Every Thursday during tutorial, there is a rather long line outside the library door. Most of these students are in no rush to check out a book — they need a place to work.

The majority of students use free periods to finish homework for upcoming classes rather than for leisure. Yet somehow while students are in dire need of a workspace, the library turns down crowds of eager students everyday.

It is unreasonable to say that the library should make more room for students by removing shelves of valuable library books. In fact, in the first week of school alone 156 books were checked out. On average that comes down to about 22 books per day. Clearly, to a considerable number of students, the school library is actually a place to check out books.

Legal reasons also pose an issue. Our school library has a capacity of no more than 210 students “by order of the State Fire Marshall.” A clear notice can be seen hanging on a column near the entrance of the library.

In such a case, it is important that students recognize that there are a few other places to work.

Of course the obvious solution would be to build a bigger library with more workspace. Or a completely separate work area altogether. This would be fine, except for one glaring issue — we simply don’t have the money. Since whining about a budget we have nearly no control over would be pointless, our best hope is to make use of alternate work spaces.

When the library is unavailable, the second best option is the Career Center. Though the seating space is limited, the Career Center has a few computers and a printer, resources necessary for a large number of students. If the Career Center is packed due to a college visit, the next best alternative is the Cafeteria. With an abundance of seating, the cafeteria is a great place to complete homework or to study. The one major drawback present is the lack of computers or textbooks. However, there are plenty of teachers on campus who allow students to use their rooms for such purposes.

There is no denying the difficulty of finding a suitable workspace. But as long as the problem exists, it is helpful to know all the available options.

EDIT: The library has a new extended schedule. Starting October 18, it will be open from 7:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The library will open at its usual time on Wednesdays and will close at 3:30 p.m. on Fridays. The library is looking to provide students with a larger window of time to work.

Shut out from the library by Kiranmayi Methuku is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.