As the end of the semester nears, excitement for winter break is paired with the dread of final exams for most students. In preparation for their tests, many Binghamton University students find creative and sometimes odd places to spend hours studying for exams.
“Last semester I basically lived in the library for a week with a group of my friends,” said Jennifer Rosen, a sophomore majoring in history and economics. “I ended up sleeping in the library on an air mattress that a bunch of people I was studying with had. We ate all our meals there and I practically didn’t go back to my room for like a week.”
According to Carol Clemente, head of Reader’s Services for Glenn G. Bartle Library, the main library on campus is now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The special hours, which began Dec. 5, will last until the end of finals.
Bartle Library gets crowded around finals week. In past years between 600 and 700 students made their way to the library to study before their big exams, Clemente said, and between 1 and 2 p.m. on Dec. 11, 360 students logged into the PODS in Bartle.
“I had three finals last semester and a bunch of stuff due the week before, and I couldn’t study in my room,” Rosen said. “I do not plan to do that this semester because my finals aren’t that bad, but I would do that again.”
Around six or seven undergraduate students work at the library during finals week for the third shift, also known as the graveyard shift. While the Information Commons consultants stay until 3 a.m., the Commons itself, along with the rest of the library, is open all night.
According to Clemente, the most popular group study areas in Bartle Library include the fourth floor group-study rooms and the Newcomb Reading Room, near the Coffee Kiosk.
Students who prefer the quiet when they study often go to the East Reading Room on the first floor, Clemente said, or the North Reading Room, which is located upstairs.
“Cleanliness becomes a problem when the library is open all night,” Alesia McManus, the head of reference, said. “We have trash cans and recycling bins all around, but there are always cups and bottles left on the desks. The cleaning staff does not want to disrupt the students, so it is important for students to clean up after themselves.”
To make themselves more comfortable, students will often rearrange a study room, or move furniture from floor to floor. This is allowed as long as stairs and elevators are not blocked, and the rearrangement does not cause a safety issue, McManus said.
“In one of the corner study rooms near where I was staying, there was someone with a coffee machine, a toaster and a whole table of food; they seriously lived in the library,” Rosen said.
In addition to the Bartle Library, the Science Library, University Downtown Center and dorm study lounges are also popular study locations.
During the week prior to and the week of finals, the UDC is open for extended hours: until midnight on weeknights, and until 9 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“The Science Library has a reputation for being quieter, and there are carrels where students sit and study,” David Vose, Information Commons coordinator, said. “The Downtown Center also has a library with study rooms that have projectors and audiovisual equipment available.”
According to McManus, it is important that students do not leave valuable items unattended when they leave their spot in the library. With the increase of students passing through the rooms this time of year, students are reporting more things stolen in the libraries, he said.
“Students shouldn’t leave laptops and valuables around when they are not there,” McManus said.
Vose agreed, adding that flash drives are often left in the PODS computers, and cell phones are found on the desks.
“We understand the students’ need to want to be here [in the libraries] 24/7 to study, but it is important that they respect the building and their fellow students,” McManus said.