For the past six weeks, Dimond Library has been open until 2 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday. The extended hours through the end of spring semester were established in response to student demand.

According to loan librarian Barbara Lerch, the busiest night is Monday with an average of 142 students per night, followed by about 120 on Wednesdays. “We find that most patrons are those who were already studying in Dimond before midnight,” she said. “Only a few students come in to begin studying after midnight.”

Access to the main floor (Level 3) is limited from midnight to 2 a.m. and all service desks are closed. A UNH ID must be presented at the door after midnight. Patrons have access to all study areas on the main floor.

This isn’t the first time Library staff responded to student needs. During the 2004 spring semester, the UNH Library, along with 203 other college, university and special libraries, participated in a survey that was designed to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users’ opinions of service quality. More than 1,445 members of the UNH community participated. Almost 300 comments were about the library’s hours and a third of those requested the library be open after midnight. The library’s first step was to open three hours earlier on Sundays, at 10 a.m. instead of 1 p.m.

“About 70 percent of the students are using the computers in the main area and in the Hubbard Room,” said Lerch. “The rest are studying quietly or in small groups. As the semester nears the end, we found it necessary to keep both our large reading rooms open for the duration. We expect to see more than 200 students on some nights until the end of finals.”