 "Photo: Eric Estes/Design and Production Editor")
During its fundraising event Sophomore Slumber Party, the Sophomore Class Gift Committee announced the gift: a 24-hour study space in Vassar’s Thompson Memorial Library.
The study space, to be made available in Fall 2010, will extend from the Library’s Chicago Hall entrance to the end of Library Classroom 160, including the Martha Rivers and E. Bronson Ingram Reading Room and the Reserve Room. During these extended hours, Vassar students will have access to a range of resources such as computers, printers and lounge-style seating. “This is something a lot of students expressed a desire for when they responded to an e-mail sent out asking for possible gifts,” said Class of 2012 President Tanay Tatum, while explaining how the idea for the gift first emerged. “It’s a great idea, especially since a lot of the students work into the a.m., and we’re very happy that we can provide the funding for this project,” said Tatum.
Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs Rachel Kitzinger also shared Tatum’s enthusiasm for this “exciting” project, adding that, “Although I hope that students are not frequently in a position to have to study throughout the night, it is sometimes the case that continuing to work on a paper or project without interruption into the early hours of the morning can be a powerful intellectual experience.”
The proposed space would be funded in part by the Class of 2012, who plans on collecting $7,000 in donations. Other contributors include the Class of 1987, which has pledged to donate an additional $7,000 if they reach 70 percent participation, and the Library itself.
“If 70 percent of our class is willing to donate, the cost per student would amount to $15.56; if, however, we get 100 percent participation, the cost per student would reduce to about $11,” said Tatum, who is optimistic that this goal will be reached in time to set up the space over the upcoming summer.
“We understand that we are living in hard times and people have little to spare, but we believe that the Class of 2012 can come together to make this goal a reality,” wrote co-Chair of the Sophomore Class Gift Committee Philani Mpofu ’12 in an e-mailed statement.
Because the gift doesn’t call for any new construction, the bulk of the cost will go towards the installation of enhanced security during the increased hours, explained Director of the Libraries Sabrina Pape.
“Security is one of our main concerns,” said Pape. “To make sure that students feel safe, we will be installing cameras throughout the space, and may even provide some staff support.”
“We will also need to install new monitors that sense unissued books, as well as modify the V-Card readers so as to allow students to access the space in those hours during which the majority of the Library is closed,” said Pape, though she clarified that students will not be able to check out books from the Library during its extended hours.
Another concern Pape and her staff have is about the general up-keep of the space by students.“We actually had a 24-hour study space much like the one that’s being planned right now, but had to close it down because students really mistreated it,” said Pape, adding that the area was strewn with “pizza boxes and cigarette burns,” and the furniture was “totally destroyed.”
“Because there wouldn’t be construction to make the space available, it would be very easy to take it away if it is mistreated,” said Pape, urging students to “police the space as though it were their own.”
Mpofu also shared this concern, but remains convinced that “Vassar students generally have a strong sense of their right to their Library…It is in this same light that we trust that students will respect this space once it opens overnight.”
“The Library is at the center of faculty and students’ intellectual lives, and a 24-hour study room will enhance the way the library serves that function. Although some of the practical details of the arrangements have yet to be worked out, we are all confident that, with students’ commitment to support this initiative and to use the space appropriately, we can make it happen,” added Kitzinger, who is confident that the project will be implemented successfully, greatly benefiting the Vassar community.
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