Expanding Hours

It is no surprise that students need to study, and the Library is one of the most popular places on campus to do homework. Today, most University Library buildings are open late into the evening and on weekends, with the Shapiro Library and the Duderstadt Center remaining open 24 hours.

Today’s unconstrained hours were not always the case. For much of the 1920s and 1930s, the main University Library building was open only Monday through Saturday, from 7:45am to 10:00pm. Many students believed these limited hours restricted their study time.

In 1934, the University’s Undergraduate Council started a fundraising campaign to raise $350 to open the General Library on Sundays. After collecting $160 in student donations, the Board of Regents approved funding from its own sources to open the building on Sundays, without using the student-raised money.

Read about the students’ determination to expand Library hours in the newspaper articles below.

 

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Looking out of the library window

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Early Entrepreneurs