The Story

99 Problems, but Swem Ain't One

Feb. 5, 2011 | By Sean Sweeney, DSJ Staff Columnist

In the January 27th edition of the Flat Hat, the editorial board addresses the issue of whether Earl Gregg Swem Library should remain open 24 hours a day. The Flat Hat wholeheartedly endorses the proposition made by Interim Dean of University Libraries Bea Hardy and praises her willingness to tackle tough problems despite prevailing financial difficulties.

While I admire Hardy’s attempts to improve the College’s library system while other administrators are seeking to merely weather the storm of recession and maintain the status quo in their various departments, I stand in firm opposition to a 24-hour schedule at Swem and take issue with a number of comments made by The Flat Hat editorial board.

The Flat Hat states, �"To allow Swem to continue operating without 24-hour availability gives the impression that the College lags behind its rival schools.” While the University of Virginia has a library that is open 24 hours a day, more distinguished academic institutions do not.

For instance, Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, the 320,000 square-foot centerpiece of Harvard University’s 15.6 million volume collection, is not open 24 hours a day. None of the Yale University Library System’s seventeen libraries are open 24 hours a day, while Firestone Library at Princeton University closes over two hours earlier than Swem.

While the Flat Hat admits that a library’s hours are a �"superficial measure of a university’s quality,” it states that �"lagging behind in such an immediately obvious capacity plays into a narrative of flagging prestige that the administration should take every effort to avoid.”

Flagging prestige? US News and World Report tends to disagree with the Flat Hat’s erroneous claim. The College ranked fifth in undergraduate teaching and has placed among the top ten public universities in the country ever since US News began publishing a separate ranking for public institutions. In a mistake befitting of their ineptitude in regards to matters concerning the library, the Flat Hat has apparently lost sight of the difference between fiction and nonfiction, a mistake that could be rectified by spending a few hours in Swem, between the hours 8 a.m. and 2 a.m., of course.

For a moment, I ask you to disregard any fraudulent claims of flagging prestige, and consider an extremely simple question: why? Why does Swem need to be open 24 hours a day? Is there a secret band of marauding insomniacs that roams the College’s hallowed grounds at all hours of the night in search of a place to study?

Let’s be honest, how many people are going to be studying in Swem at four o’clock in the morning? While William and Mary is an extremely rigorous academic institute, I doubt I would have to take my socks off to count the number of students who the extension of hours would benefit.

Yet, if the College of William and Mary is going to provide around-the-clock access to the library, it logically follows that the Cafeteria should remain open as well. The night-owls are going to need a place to eat, right? With all those excess calories consumed, the Recreational Sports Center should remain open twenty-four hours a day as well. In fact, why not just keep everything open twenty four hours a day?

I agree with the Flat Hat’s assertion that the struggling economy has become �"an excuse, a simple way to avoid dealing with any potentially difficult policy decision.” However, citing financial difficulties as a reason to maintain Swem’s current hours of availability is not an act of cowardice; it is a smart decision.

Swem Library does not need to be open 24 hours a day. Keeping the library open when very few people would be using it is a colossal waste of resources. The money saved by not keeping the library open around-the-clock could be better spent elsewhere….I’m sure the Living Wage Coalition might have an idea or two.

Sean Sweeney is a staff columnist for the DSJ. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the entire staff.