When I first arrived at Eastern, I was a transfer student from Boise State University — an admittedly bigger, more established and consequentially richer school — and as a result there were a few privileges I had at Boise State I had taken for granted. Namely, how their library is open until midnight, 5 out of 7 days in the week.

The fact the JFK Library closed at 9 p.m. most days and was only open 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday threw me for a loop. Thankfully, JFK has recently extended their Monday through Thursday hours to 10 p.m. and their Sunday hours to 9 p.m.

And this spring quarter, the library will be doing a test run for longer hours: 7:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday; 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. to midnight on Sunday.

Of course a library that’s open until midnight 5 out of 7 days of the week is a dream, especially for those of us who have class during the bulk of the day and no free time to study until after 6 p.m. Hopefully the new hours for next quarter will stick, as longer hours will allow students to take more advantage of what is otherwise a great resource.

Longer library hours is almost unarguably a positive, as for many students, especially those who live on campus in noisy residence halls, the library is the best place to find a quiet area to study and get work done.

“Ideally, for me, would just be [more hours] in the evening,” said EWU sophomore Emily Booker. “Just so I can have a place to go then, because that’s often when my dorm is going to be louder and there’s going to be more people around making noise. So just more evening hours.”

With the current operating hours, finding a quiet place to study on campus on the weekends can be a challenge. The library is open for a measly five hours on Saturdays and nine on Sundays. The new hours next quarter will definitely be several steps up from the current schedule.

“They’re not open for very long on Sundays, so I wish they were open a little bit later, just because I like to be able to have this space to come to where it’s quieter and I have more resources,” said Booker.

Inconvenient hours aside, the library is a good resource; it’s just not always a usable resource when we need it the most. Having a quiet area to study is a privilege that certainly doesn’t go unused, but it is always better to have that privilege be available more often than less.

“I think overall [the library is] really great, I’d just like it to be available more often,” said Booker.