Ohio University students will eventually have an additional space to study late at night: the fourth floor of Alden Library.
The fourth floor will be open around the clock next academic year. The second floor of Alden is the only floor available for 24-hour use Monday through Thursday.
“One of the most common requests students have of Alden Library is for more space to be open 24-hours,” Scott Seaman, dean of OU Libraries, said in an email. “We’ve been working with the University administration for several years to be able to get this done.”
For the fourth floor to open up for 24-hour use, the completion of the first of five phases of renovations must be completed.
The renovations — which are projected to cost about $2,890,000 — include moving the Academic Advancement Center to the second floor, adding a new service desk to the fourth floor and upgrading the fourth floor’s electrical, plumbing and air handling systems.
The construction on the fourth floor is expected to be completed in August 2017.
The other four phases will be used to “revitalize the rest of the building,” Seaman said.
Of the six Mid-American Conference universities in Ohio, OU is one of three universities with 24-hour study space for students.
While Honors Tutorial College students and OU graduate students are able to access the other floors of the library at all hours by providing their Ohio ID for a stack pass, the general student body is only able to gain access to the materials available on other floors through library staff, Seaman said.
With more space available, Emma Nichter hopes her efficiency at the library will be improved.
“The second floor is always louder (than the fourth),” Nichter, a freshman studying psychology, said. said. “If I’m at the library that late then I kind of need to be secluded, and the added space will allow that.”
Sarah Segriff, a student employee at Alden who works on the fourth and second floors, praised the idea of the fourth floor opening up 24 hours.
“If the second floor gets overcrowded, then people can come (up to the fourth floor),” Segriff, a freshman studying business and entrepreneurship, said.
The addition of another 24-hour floor at Alden would cause staffing challenges, Seaman said. Student staff working past midnight is rare and the university intends on adding full-time staff, he said.
Laura Gilbert is excited for the fourth floor to be open 24 hours.
“It would be a great trial run, even if they try this for a semester or a year, to see the flow of people,” Gilbert, a junior studying Spanish, said.
