LIBRARY NIGHTMARES

[gsimonett-blog]

Get angry about the Library! DePaul's Lincoln Park library should be open 24/7.

[gsimonett-blog]

Sexiled

Reporter: So, Jenny, how do you feel about your roommates boyfriend?

Jenny: I feel like he is constantly in my room. This school costs a lot of money in the first place, I think I should be sharing my room with only my roommate, and not her constantly-here boyfriend.

Reporter: What bugs you most about your roommate having a boyfriend?

Jenny: Well honestly, it is when I turn the corner of the hallway to my room and I see the sock on the door. There is no way that I am opening the door then. I just turn right back around and find some where else to go.

Reporter: but what if it is late at night, and the lobby of your dorm is filled with every one else who has been kicked out of their rooms too. Do you have any where to go study with some peace and quiet?

Jenny: Funny thing you should ask that. Because I do not, in fact, have any where else to go.

Reporter: Do you not have a basement in your dorm?

Jenny: O, I have a basement allright. But there are always couples down there. It is like valentines day every day of the week!

Reporter: Wow, I am so sorry. How about the library?

Jenny: Ha, the library. That is far closed by the middle of the night when I need to finish up my homework. It is open 24/7 during midterms and finals, but that is it. Mid terms and finals are not the only time of the year where I have a lot of home work to do.

Reporter: So what are you going to do about it?

Jenny: I am going to make a petition! I need as many people to sign as possible. I have been asking around and it seems to be a big problem for other students who also live in dorms to find good places to study when the library is not open 24/7. So come on and sign my petition saying that DePaul's Lincoln Park library should always be open 24/7. This petition will be located starting March 5th on the Student Center's bulletin board.

Reporter: Thank you very much Jenny!

[gsimonett-blog]

[gsimonett-blog]

[gsimonett-blog]

"Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library." - Barbara Tuchman

http://www.useful-information.info/quotations/library_quotes.html#library_quotes

[gsimonett-blog]

Shadow

It has been a long week. Finally you get out of your last thursday night class. It was the three hour math class you got stuck with in the loop. That guy in the front row always asks too many questions. But it is fine, you are finally out, whew.

"Next stop Fullerton" Time to get off.

You have noticed the same stranger following you. But, there are always strange people around on the corners, so you don't think too much of it. But finally, the person starts to walk faster. You get that strange gut feeling, you start to run, and so does your follower!

You see the library ahead. If only you can reach it you will be safe inside!

You are so close, you can see your reflection in the window of the door. You reach out your hand to grab the big handle. You go to tug, thinking thank god the library is open 24/7! But wait what is this, it does not open! The sign on the door says it closes at 9:00 and it is now 9:01. You are just a minute too late! You try to turn but you already see the shadow of your follower over you and feel a hand on your shoulder.....if only you were a minute earlier. Or, if only DePaul's Lincoln Park library was open 24/7. No!!!!!!!!!

[gsimonett-blog]

The Real Situation

Okay, so maybe my earlier post was a little dramatic. But honestly, it could happen.

But maybe a more likely story goes a little something like this:

Even though you are a freshman, you have gotten to know how to weave yourself through the school pretty well. You know you can pass through the student center to escape the cold for a minute. Or that the Sac is connected to the library. Also, if you live in the dorms, the library is a perfect tunnel to escape the couple blocks of this freezing cold winter... (well lets time travel to this time last year).

You have taken the long track from Mcgaw, and you no longer have feeling in your toes, nose or ears. And, wait, did you just get your tongue stuck to a pole? Yeah, it is that cold out.

Finally, the library is in view. Ahh, the library. It is a break from the freezing cold. And you know how much that break means. It is a wonderful experience that can not be given enough credit through words. It is the feeling of hope, that you soon will be able to step into a world filled with warmth. It is an escape outside of the real, harsh world filled with cold and crowded side walks. Filled with a harsh wind that makes you gasp because you dare not breathe in the air in fear that it will freeze your only pair of lungs. But all of that does not matter, because you are about to enter the place of goodness, the place where everything is right in the world, the library.

You take off your glove, risking the chance of freezing off your hand, but you are willing to take that risk because going through the library will make it all worth while. But as you try to open the massive door, it is as if all of your strength has been stripped from you. It does not budge. Why? Because the library is closed. No, it is not open at all times. As you start to heat up anyways because the anger is rising inside of you, you try to take your hand away to put back on your glove. But it is too late, your fingers are frozen to the library door. Stuck there until the next morning when the library opens again, and your fingers defrost. 

[gsimonett-blog]

The Skyper

Skyper, (def.): n. A person, usually your roommate, who skypes constantly. Usually towards the end of the night when you are trying to get your homework done. Of course, this homework is due the next day. But you are not able to do it in your room because your roommate, a.k.a the skyper, will not quiet down and is not moving into the hall because it is quiet hours.

With a sigh, you say you will trudge your way over to the library. You have to get your work done one way or another. And no way are you going to get it done in the lobby, there are too many people and the "quiet zone" was disregarded the minute the couple of girls in there started talking about the new cute guy on your floor.

You decide you will go for the comfy chair at the library. You might as well since it is past midnight. O how high school sucked you into a routine of procrastination. However, you have never been one to turn things in late, so at least the library will make you get your work done.

As you make your way to the building, you start to smile because you are proud that you are about to finish this project that has taken you forever. All that is left is a few minor tweaks and details, but it will make it all the better in the end. As you are praising your self on being motivated enough to finish the project, you realize that there are no lights on in the library. It is closed! The nerve of them! You are only trying to be a good student but you are shut down. The library shuns you as you take a walk of shame back to your dorm, only to have endless dreams of not finishing your project on time. If only your roommate was not a skyper. Or if the library could be open 24/7...

[gsimonett-blog]

Petition

I can see how these posts might come off as a tad dramatic, but I know that many people can relate to them. I have heard more than once, people complain that it can be hard to find quiet places to get work done after the library is closed.

I understand that the University wants to save money on lights, but then again, our ridiculously priced tuition should be able to come into play with that.

Or maybe it is the fact the school officials do not want any one in the library late at night. I understand that there would need to be someone in charge, but then again, the library is open all night during finals, so it must be possible. Also, we are all adults here, and would be able to handle ourselves late at night in the library studying. Though I know how much college students love to start parties in the library...

Also, finals and midterms are not the only time of the year that we have major assignments due. Or, have to stay up late studying for a test. I have found these situations to come at all times of the quarter. The library needs to be open on a 24/7 basis to ensure that we college students are getting the best education that we can! I ask all of you to sign my petition, which will be located starting March 5th on the Student Center's bulletin board, in order to get the library to be an open building at all times. We all know that this would greatly benefit us, and save us from our late night problems.