As expected, the new year has brought a big increase in the number of people studying in the Library. Much of this increase can be attributed to the double cohort with the start of 3-3-4, but the actual usage is much higher than the ~20% increase in actual student numbers. Fortunately, this was not unexpected, and overall Library study seating has increased over 40% in the past few years.

Comparing exit counts an hour before closing for the first month of classes, usage this year is 43% higher than in 2011. And if we count the closing hour and include exits during the extended Learning Commons hours, that number jumps to almost 55%!

Much of the 'extra' increase may be because the new students are undergraduates - traditionally the heaviest users of Library facilities. The overwhelmingly positive reaction to the new Learning Commons has also attracted strong numbers of PG students, and quite a few faculty and staff.

In response, the Learning Commons is now open until 6:00am every night of the week during term! That means you can use the Commons for up to 22 hours per day, and almost as much on the weekends.

By the end of the first week of these extended hours, well over 100 students were studying past 2am, with up to 50 kept going until 6am - and that was on a Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how these figures swell during exams!