We will be telling stories about the winter of 2019 for years to come! No one could have predicted that CMU’s Mount Pleasant campus would be closed or have a delayed opening on six days within a three-week period.
I recently asked several students what they thought about the winter weather and its effect on their studies. They stated that they were not very productive during the closures and used the time to relax.
I realized that students may not have known that the Park Library’s Extended Hours Study room was open regular hours on each of these days, that the libraries’ online collections are available anywhere, anytime, or that our librarians replied to students questions submitted through the online Ask a Librarian service.
Despite the snowy, icy, cold weather, many students took advantage of the library’s self-service study space. We have no way of knowing how many students may have been in the study room simultaneously, but we do know how many unique individuals accessed the room during the times when campus was closed:
|
Date of closures |
Time period of closures |
# Unique users of Extended Hours Study Room |
# Questions librarians answered |
| Monday, Jan. 28 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:10 p.m. | 63 | 9 |
| Wednesday, Jan. 30 | 12:01 a.m. – 11:51 p.m. | 60 | 5 |
| Thursday, Jan. 31 | 7:20 a.m. – 11:53 p.m. | 125 | 7 |
| Wednesday, Feb. 6 | 8:00-11:00 a.m. | 43 | 2 |
| Thursday, Feb. 7 | 8:00 a.m. – midnight | 108 | 13 |
| Tuesday, Feb. 12 | 8:00 a.m. – midnight | 130 | 8 |
We want to commend the students who used the Extended Hours Study room on these dates and times! We noticed no problems with the room when we opened the library building after the closure periods.
I came in early on February 6th and talked with a few students who were waiting for the main library building to open. I encouraged them to use the Extended Hours Study room until the main library opened at 11:00 a.m. As I accompanied them into the study room, I was impressed by the large number of students who were already using the room. Their quiet concentration filled the air.
We are interested in hearing about the experiences of students who braved the weather to study at the Park Library during these closures. How did you know the room was open for use? Did you encounter any problems with the study space? We wondered whether we should have closed the study room on January 30 and 31 when the wind chill was dangerously low. We wondered if the printer ran out of paper, or if there were more students in the room than seats available. Please share your experiences in the comment section below.
