The University of Hawaii at Mānoa doesn't provide the same library hours during summer compared to the Spring & Fall semesters.
Back in 2015, I was a student at the university. The shorter library hours during the summer sessions were a major challenge. I still didn't have a computer at home and relied on the library's computers to accomplish any tasks that required the use of a computer. So everything that required a computer had to be done by 18:00 (aka 6 pm).
At the time, I was my major's (Library & Information Science) representative in the university's Graduate Student Organization (GSO). I drafted a resolution for increased library hours during the summer. The resolution was approved by the G.S.O in July of that year.
I wrote about it in this blog post "GSO resolution to extend summer library hours" https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2015/07/gso-resolution-to-extend-summer-library.html
The university's newspaper Ka Leo O Hawai'i (aka The Ka Leo) published an article about the issue in September 2015.
Courtney Teague, “Increased Library Hours? Graduate Student Organization Proposes More Hours, Hopes ASUH Will Follow Suit,” Ka Leo O Hawaii, September 1, 2015 https://www.manoanow.org/increased-library-hours/article_a2f423e2-50da-11e5-88fd-cfd20c41fd68.html
Later that year, I presented a poster at the 2015 Hawaii Library Association (HLA) conference about the need for extended library hours during the summer.
Check out the poster at https://f50b11d0-8144-4b73-aa56-1defbe26de98.filesusr.com/ugd/c8d67a_37170d9ed0a14fa4833a6209b7711764.pdf
It's now 9 years later, and the problem still persists.
I have written a letter to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about it
Here's the link
And here's the letter itself!
Back in 2015, when I was a student at UH-Manoa, I noticed the school’s library was open for fewer hours during the summer school sessions compared to the fall/spring semesters. That year, I drafted a resolution that was approved by the school’s Graduate Student Organization calling for increased library hours during the summer sessions.
It’s now nine years later and nothing has changed. This is problematic especially because summer sessions cram 16 weeks of coursework into six weeks, making it more essential for students to get as much library time as possible.
The shorter hours are also a major inconvenience for those with daytime responsibilities, as well as for those without a computer or quiet study space at home.
The university should do the right thing in ensuring that future summer school sessions will have the same library hours available as the fall and spring semesters.
Pablo Wegesend
The good news was that the editors deemed it worthy to be posted online.
The bad news was that they decided to post on the Saturday edition, and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser doesn't publish a print edition for Saturdays. (Their website does post a print replica online though).
It would've been nice if they posted it on the Sunday edition, when more people are reading the newspapers. For devoted newspaper readers, the Sunday edition is always the best one!
Oh well, can't win them all.
But I truly hope that the students at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa can win a major victory with extended library hours for future summer sessions.
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