WHAT'S UP WITH OUR LIBRARY?

I have had issues with Cooper Memorial Library since beginning classes last year. The Librarians are awesome, and I appreciate the amazing library Staff. However, we don’t have a dedicated library for LSSC students. We share library and study space with the community in a public library. Having a dedicated place to complete classwork and study is imperative to successful learning outcomes.

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Many of us have various reasons for using the library space to study. Our student lounge has a tv, games, and friends, and is too loud and distracting to study. Some of us have parents
or siblings at home and that can be disruptive to studying. With a houseful of offspring, the sound of children is not conducive to my successful study at home.

Second, the public library hours do not accommodate a college lifestyle. Since Lake County sets the hours for the public library, we LSSC students only have access to our library and our Learning Center during those limited hours. Generally, Monday through Friday is considered a workweek. However, our library is only open from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, Monday
through Thursday, and on Friday the open hours are only 9:00 am to 1:00 pm with a repeat of 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday.

Maybe you can relate, but on Fridays, I don’t have class and I want to sleep in. By the time I get up and ready it is already too late for me to study at the library because they close so early. And for some reason our Math Emporium follows the same schedule, so sometimes it’s a choice between getting Math Lab hours in and completing work in another class.

Other colleges have libraries that are exclusively for their students, including our Lake Sumter State College’s Leesburg Campus.

This is the first in a series of articles regarding this issue. If you have any ideas or questions, feel free to talk to me during office hours. Tuesdays, Noon to 4:00 pm, in The Angler
office, Building 2, Room #124.