What Time Do You Close?
Determining Library Services with an Evidence Based Approach
Louise McGillis
Associate University Librarian
Memorial University, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada
• Libraries becoming more service focused
• Libraries catering to “night owls” and students with roommates
• Libraries have new users groups – those who work during the day
Increased Demand for Expanded Hours
• Serves 1300 students and 200 faculty and staf
Ferriss Hodgett Library
Monday-Thursday: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm Friday: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Sunday: 2:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Original Library Hours (2007)
• Gain a better understanding of the times users visit the library
• Determine if hours were extended, what times they would most like to have access
• Determine what services they would need to access
• Received 168 responses from our campus
2007 Online Survey About Library Hours
• No clear demand from users to extend hours during regular semester
• Need for extended hours during exams
• Need to promote extended Saturday hours
• 70% of students wanted circulation services available during opening hours
Survey Results
Monday-Thursday: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm Friday: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Sunday: 2:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Noon-6:00 pm
First Change to Library Hours (2008)
8:00 pm
noon
• Library was open for a 63 hour marathon study session
• 8:00 am on Saturday – 11:00 pm on Monday
Study Around the Clock
Final Exams Pilot (Winter 2008)
“Great idea to have the library open for sixty- three hours; it’s like the best idea ever! It
would be awesome to keep the library opened throughout the final exam period.”
Student Comment
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
3:00 am
SAT SUN
Final Exams Pilot (Winter 2008)
Late-night Hours During Exams
• Fall 2008 – present
• Open late for 3 weekends during exam period
• Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 2:00 am
• Free cofee and healthy snacks
Monday-Thursday: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm Friday: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday: noon – 6:00 pm Sunday: noon– 10:00 pm
8:00 pm
Second Change to Library Hours (Fall 2008)
2:00 pm
• Continued to receive requests for earlier Sunday opening hours
• Winter 2010: tried opening at noon on Sundays again, but only at the end of the semester and during exams
• March 7 to April 18
Winter 2010 Pilot: Sunday Noon Opening
Winter 2010 Pilot: Sunday Noon Opening
Number of users in the Library between noon and 2:00 pm
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
• Monday-Thursday: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm
• Only during exam period
• 1 ½ weeks: April 12-16, and April 19-20
Another Winter 2010 Pilot:
Closing Later on Weeknights During Exams
midnight
Mon Tues Wed Thur Mon Tues 0
20 40 60 80 100 120
Closing Later on Weeknights During Exams
Number of users in the Library between 11:00 pm-midnight
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Sundays noon-2:00pm
Weeknights 11:00pm-midnight
Comparison of Number of Users
Staffing
• Receptive to move from collections model to service model
• Evening and weekend hours cannot be provided by just using student workers
• A staf member working most times the library is open
• Pilot extra hours for entire academic year
• Keep statistics on all the extra hours
• We will be in better position to determine when the Library receives the greatest use
