Tag Archives: 24/5

Services

Stay Safe Out There

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If you’ve recently been in or around PCL (and you’re a college-age student at UT), you’ve probably noticed the increased activity, especially in the hours between midnight and 4 a.m. Those late-night denizens of the central branch library at the university are a result of the expanded 24/5 service — 24-hour, 5 day-a-week — that went into effect in mid-October as the result of work by Student Government to raise the necessary funding.

While those late hours are a good thing for the students who need a place to put in dedicated study time (or for those who waited until the eleventh hour to get started), it also means that individuals will need to traverse the campus to get to and from the library in the middle of the night, a less than optimal prospect.

Student Government, however, was also able to improve this situation.

The organization developed SURE Walk, a student-run volunteer group that provides walks to and from campus to students, faculty and staff of the university, with the help of both male and female student volunteers selected from university sanctioned organizations across the campus. You can read more about it here.

The program has existed for a few years now, but SG recognized that the bulk of increases in requests would likely come from the space they fought to keep open, so they’ve decided to move the operation to the place that makes the most sense, and will be working out of the PCL, providing an extra measure of safety (and relief) to students (and parents).

SG representatives will have a small kick-off party tonight (11/14/12) at 8 p.m. in the UFCU room at the PCL, so come out and support them for making life a little safer on campus.

News

Money, Meet Mouth

PCL will open for 24-hour service in October.

No one can claim that our student leaders are filling token positions.

Student Government President Thor Lund and VP Wills Brown campaigned last year on two primary platform positions, one of which had direct bearing on the Libraries: 24-hour service at the Perry-Castañeda Library.

As of today, the incredibly industrious team can check that particular item off of their to-do list, at least for this year.

In mid-October, a week before midterms, the PCL will be open for 24 hours, 5 days-a-week until the end of the semester — during the time that students see access to a safe, secure study space a priority for their academic work. “24/5” picks back up before spring midterms and follows the same pattern to round out the school year.

Lund and Brown — along with support from SG staff — didn’t play around while most of their fellow students were on break. The pair worked with Libraries administration to target and solicit enough resources across campus for the funding of a one-year pilot of 24/5.

Not content to let temporary funding rest, Lund, Brown and staffers will be working over the course of the year to find permanent funding for the program.

Their hard work makes us proud to be Longhorns.

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Beginning in mid-October, PCL will open at noon on Sundays and remain open through 11 p.m. on Fridays. PCL will be open from 9 a.m. – 11 p.m. on Saturdays.