What should the library do to address seat saving?

Many students struggle to find a space to study in Brody Learning Commons  or the Milton S. Eisenhower Library (MSE), especially during exam season. Often, students save themselves seats by putting down their belongings and then leaving for extended periods of time, preventing others from using these spaces.

This semester, MSE is soliciting student input to address the problem of seat saving. The library has asked students to submit ideas via social media or through the library’s suggestion box.

Heather Stalfort, director of communications and marketing for MSE, said that the library does not intend to ban the practice of saving seats.

“We don’t have any intention of stopping seat saving or policing it,” she said. “We just really wanted to acknowledge some of the complaints that have come in recently and see if anyone has some solution.”

She noted that seat saving is a recurring issue that students bring up during exam season but added that the library has received complaints earlier than usual this semester.

“We had enough students raise the issue, so we thought it was something that maybe our students using the library could help troubleshoot,” Stalfort said.

Although some students see seat saving as a major problem, others feel that it is generally acceptable. Senior Anshel Kenkare said that seat saving is only inconvenient during exam periods and that he rarely has trouble finding a seat.

“I’ve done it in the past, and I know my friends have done it in the past,” he said. “It’s an accepted phenomenon.”

Junior Cassidy Speller, who has saved seats in MSE in the past, thinks library staff should focus on more important problems.

“If someone has been gone that long you can move their stuff,” she said. “I leave for 20-40 minutes, but I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

MSE staff has posted advertisements in Lav Notes, on the TV screens in Brody and MSE and on social media. Students can provide input via Facebook and Twitter, as well as the suggestion box located across the elevators on M-level.

The library has already received a number of suggestions, which are posted on a bulletin board on M-level. Stalfort noted that some of the suggestions have called for better communication between students.

“One of the suggestions was just jotting a note, like ‘back in an hour,’” she said. “If you’re not going to be there, maybe someone could use your seat during that time.”

Sophomore Max Jarcho is a member of the MSE Student Advisory Committee, a group that provides feedback to the library. He noted that this issue has been discussed in committee meetings in the past and agreed that increased communication is important.

“We settled on the idea that the most effective solution would be to establish community norms so that people understood when it’s acceptable to leave your stuff, how long to leave your stuff and if it’s acceptable to move someone else’s stuff,” he said.

Jarcho also said that the Student Advisory Committee wanted to take measures to acknowledge the problem of seat saving.

“Because of the amount of space we have and the amount of students using the library... there should be something in place to stop people from leaving their stuff so long,” he said.

While Kenkare believes that preventing students from saving seats may not be feasible, he does think that creating additional study locations could be a helpful.

“A student center would be helpful, especially because [there are] people who are just hanging out and casually working... and people who are trying to grind,” he said. “Having both those people in the same spot sort of takes up a lot of space.”

For sophomore Olivia Chan, finding a space to study during exams is often a challenge, even on the quieter levels of the library. She believes that students should explore other locations on campus.

“Other study areas need to be advertised more, like Gilman or Mudd,” she said.

Junior Adam Strickland does not think that the seat saving problem is unmanageable. He also thinks that monitoring study spaces is difficult and inefficient.

“You never know just how long someone has been gone, unless you station people individually in an area, which is not really a good use of resources,” he said.

Over the next couple of years, MSE will be making preparations to renovate the library, according to Stalfort. She said that MSE is considering adding more study spaces.

Jarcho added that MSE is committed to incorporating student feedback into their renovation plans.

“Part of the renovation is to bring more natural light in, to add more study spaces and classrooms and make it a more open space for more people to work in at once,” he said.