Reduced library hours during spring semester break

Q. I'm extremely surprised and very inconvenienced by your reduced hours during spring semester "break". This is not a break for me while I work on my final masters project and there were many students in there yesterday getting kicked out at the unreasonable time of 5pm. I know there were other SFU students in Belzberg prepping for practicums and I have no doubt other graduate students working on projects that don't stop at the end of semester. The staff don't make eye contact when security kicks you out either. I'm quite angry that I can't come in this weekend to work on my data analysis. This policy should be reconsidered. Maybe it will help future students who live downtown. I'm sure my situation is far from unusual.

A. Thank you very much for contacting me with your concerns and my sincere apologies for your inconvenience. Belzberg Library operates on reduced hours during the semester break because we are unable to schedule student staff during this time and therefore do not have enough staff to maintain regular hours.  Reduced hours are posted on the library website and front doors well in advance to alert students to the change. In previous years, use of the library during semester break was very low but it's possible that patterns have changed and that we should consider augmenting our hours during the spring semester break.  If you have suggestions as to the best times for additional hours (eg. Saturdays, weekday evenings, etc.), please don't hesitate to let me know by phone or email.

Karen Marotz
Head, Belzberg Library