Fresno State’s Henry Madden Library has extended its hours and is now open until midnight.
Over the past several years there has been a constant request from students for longer library hours, said Dave Tyckoson, associate dean of the Henry Madden Library. As of Nov. 2, the library will be open until midnight Sunday through Thursday.
The library is currently in the process of hiring a full-time employee to become part of the staff. This process takes awhile, so in the meantime they have the spending to pay overtime for the employees that will be staying until midnight.
The difficult part is Sunday staffing because they only have one employee working an eight-hour shift, said Tyckoson.
“We wanted to start the extended time now and give the students the benefit” of additional time, said Tyckoson.
“If we waited to hire a full-time person it would take us [until] next semester for the change.”
The time extension is expected to stay permanent throughout the spring and fall semesters, but not over breaks and summer. They plan to open up earlier on Sundays starting next semester. Library administration is still deciding if they’re going to keep the library open even later during finals.
“It’s going to be very hard on the students that are closing staff, a lot of them do open the next day so they will be pretty tired,” said Cristal Cardenas, library student assistant.
There is an issue with safety after midnight, not necessarily in the library but people headed to their car late at night, said Tyckoson.
Tyckoson said that he has been in discussion with the police department about the possibility of having the library open even later during finals. He said that the police recommended against having the library staying open later than midnight.
For students the hours can be helpful but for some staff that means longer hours and less sleep.
“It puts a lot of pressure on the ones that will be staying later, going home that late isn’t the safest and I think that can be an issue,” said Shoua Thao, library employee.
“I like that it will be open later, it’s good if you have late classes because you can come afterwards,” said Reuben Rangel, 21-year-old criminology major. “It gives you that extra study time to get everything finished.”
