Whitney Morris, Staff Writer 

Here at Utica College, library hours have, for a long time, been on the list of things that students would like to change.

From Sunday-Thursday, the library closes at midnight. On Fridays it closes at 10 p.m., and on Saturdays the library closes at 7 p.m. Many students feel as if the library hours should be extended well beyond the current hours. However, there are two sides to this situation; the students and the library administration. It seems as if the only issue is trying to find some sort of middle ground between the two.

According to James Teliha, the Director of the Library and Learning Commons, there is a student senate group that was formed on behalf of students who feel the library should be opened longer. He also stated that he has been waiting for the group to meet with him since they first reached out to him at the start of the semester, so he is unsure of their current status.

“I think the current hours work for most people,” Teliha said.

Still, he isn’t opposed to having a discussion about it. Teliha also mentioned the tuition reset and how it would affect changing the library hours. In order to change the current hours, more staff would need to be added.

“We need more people for more hours,” Teliha said.

Because of the tuition reset, the budget for UC is frozen for the next year, which prohibits the library from adding more staff. In addition to this, it would be unrealistic to stretch the current staff for the sake of those extra hours.

On the student side of this situation, many students feel as if many resources on campus should open earlier and close later. This not only includes the library, but also places such as the gym and the cafeteria. However, when it comes to the library, the current hours simply aren’t cutting it for students.

“I came from Binghamton University where the library was opened 24 hours,” said Omeme Idolor, a transfer student. “Many people have night classes that end at 9:20 and that isn’t enough time to get any work done,” Idolor said.

Some students have specific alternate schedules in mind for the library.

“I think the library should be open until 2 a.m. every single night, and they should open earlier, at around 6 a.m.,” said Sarah Renaud, a junior.

Florentina Bacaj is a student at UC who works at the front desk in library.

“I think the library should extend their hours throughout the week- I wouldn’t mind working later hours because I can also get my work done while working at the front desk,” Bacaj said.

Unfortunately, according to Teliha, as of right now there is no discussion about extending the normal library hours beyond the extension that students receive during finals week. Perhaps if the Student Senate comes around, a discussion can be started and UC may see some changes in the current hours.