Lights out at the library

Dear librarians, friends, Deweys, Elsies, and alphabetically-ordered readers,

Went on a road trip yesterday to look at the University of Arkansas to see if it would be a good location for my youngest. He's planning to study photography, so we are looking for scenic locations as well as academics. Financial aid plays a big part in the search, too. Some of our drive from Dallas was quite lovely, and would be even more so a bit later in spring. After visiting the Fine Arts building we wandered around campus. We got to the main library at 6:05 on Friday evening, and IT WAS CLOSED. Steven looked at me stunned. What kind of university closes its library at six on Friday, he wondered??? What if he wanted to do some research?? What indeed? We stared at the posted regular hours. Ridiculous! We went back to the car disgusted, and drove all the way home instead of staying overnight. The most impressive sight on campus is the abundance of grey squirrels.


Mullins Library at the University of Arkansas has regular hours Mon.-Thurs. 7 a.m. to midnight, Fri. 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. , Sun. noon-midnight. (100 hrs./wk.)

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Love Library is where I spent many of my lovely, yet chilly, library hours as a student, student employee, and full-time employee. I worked shifts late at night, on weekends, and even during winter breaks with barely enough heat to keep the pipes from freezing. I do understand that library budgets shrink, costs rise, and hours have to be adjusted to meet usage. Love's regular hours are 8 a.m.-midnight on M-Th, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays (even during Cornhusker home football games), and noon-midnight Sundays. (96 hrs./wk.)


Down in Austin at UT, the main Perry-Castaneda Library is open 122 hrs./wk. (M-Th 7 a.m.-2 a.m., Fridays 7 a.m.-midnight, Saturdays 9 a.m.-midnight, and Sundays noon-2 a.m.

Out in Lubbock at Texas Tech the University Library is available for use M-Th 7 a.m.-2 a.m., Fri. 7 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sun. 10 a.m.-2 a.m. (121 hrs./wk.) I hope my middle son is using those hours wisely!


My eldest son is in grad school at the University of Indiana-Bloomington. The Main Library has hours M-Th 8 a.m.-midnight, Fri. 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-9 p.m., and Sun. 11 a.m.-midnight. That's 101 hrs./wk.


The Zimmerman Library at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque with its fine old reading room is open 100 hrs./wk.: M-Th. 8 a.m.-midnight, Fridays 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and 10 a.m.-midnight Sundays.

Near the fourth floor elevators of the University Library of Arizona in Tucson you will see the old author/title card catalog which contains the catalog cards for books cataloged prior to 1984. After 1984 all cataloging was entered into the online catalog. It makes me sad for the good old days adding and withdrawing cards in UNL's wooden drawers. My right index finger still feels the drawer pull nearly thirty years after my filing career began.

I could gaze at the old wooden card catalog 142 hrs./wk. if I were a U Arizona student or faculty member. The library is open 24 hrs. a day M-Th, closes at 9 p.m. Fridays, has Saturday hours 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and opens at 11 a.m. Sunday. A student could sleep like Rip Van Winkle in a library carrel from 11 a.m. Sunday until 9 p.m. Friday. Maybe that room in the dorm isn't really necessary!