With a bit of luck, the Van Pelt night scene may get a whole lot livelier.
After a push from members of the Undergraduate Assembly's Facilities Committee, Van Pelt administrators agreed to extend hours until 2 a.m. through reading days and finals.
And to help students beyond finals period, the UA is currently in talks with the library administration about extending Van Pelt hours until 2 a.m. for the entire academic year.
Longer library hours would benefit students, especially since midterms are staggered throughout the semester, said College junior and UA Facilities Committee co-chair Lisa Zhu.
College sophomore Jonathan Gol, like many interviewed, said he would be taking advantage of the extended Van Pelt hours through the remainder of finals.
"Other places on campus are really oppressive since they are so silent," he said. "Van Pelt has a good combination of silence and people mulling around."
UA member and College senior Liz Lee added that the UA has explored the option of opening more late-night study areas for the past two years.
Extended hours began the Mon. after Thanksgiving break, two weeks earlier than previous years - an indication of the administration's vested interest in meeting student needs, according to Facilities Committee co-chair and College senior Sarah Abroms.
"The library management has been very responsive and really want to help make the library the best study environment possible," Abroms said. "They are willing to work with us as much as they can."
Abroms added that the library administration cited security measures as the main challenge behind extending its hours.
In response to that challenge, the UA Facilities Committee worked with the Division of Public Safety to initialize the "Walk-Back program," which posts several security guards outside Van Pelt to serve as walking escorts from 12 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. --- an extension of the regular 898-WALK program.
"With recent events, safety is even more significant when students are finding a location to study at later times," Zhu said.
Gol added that it was a good idea to provide walking escorts.
"If I lived farther away, I would definitely be concerned about safety," he said.
Zhu added that the UA would be looking into extending hours for other study spaces across campus, including those closer to 40th Street, where many undergraduates live.
"Availability of space is always an issue since we live on an urban campus," Zhu said. "It's something we will have to continue talking about with facility administration."
For now, Lee said the library was a good place to start because of the cooperative relationship between the UA and Van Pelt administrators.
