This fall, the Killam Library had to reduce the amount of hours that we are open. We made this decision very reluctantly, due to a significant reduction in the Dal Libraries’ budget this year. We now close at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights (we were open until midnight last year), and we have slightly reduced hours on statutory holidays. We have also made cuts to our collections in order to balance the budget. Friday and Saturday nights were chosen as the hours to cut because those were the hours when library use is shown to be less than at other times.

We understand that this reduction in hours is an inconvenience for students and other researchers, and we would not have taken this course of action if there were alternatives. Reducing access to the Library’s collections and services is never our aim, and should our funding levels increase again next year, we will certainly restore the hours then.

Beginning on October 27, Night Owl hours will return for approximately six weeks before and during exams (this pattern will be repeated in the spring, too). During Night Owls, we will be open until 3 a.m. on Sundays-Thursdays, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Beginning November 23, we will also open at 8 a.m. (as opposed to 10 a.m.) on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Your feedback is important to us, as it helps us to know which hours are most important to you, our users. Should we be able to find more funding next term, or in the next fiscal year, and if we were able to restore either Friday evening or Saturday evening hours but not both, which night is more useful? Any feedback you can provide regarding priorities for open hours would be very valuable to us when we’re making decisions in future.

Thank you,
The Dalhousie Libraries

P.S. For later study hours on Fridays and Saturdays before Night Owls, the Sexton Design & Technology Library is open until 9 p.m. both nights.