"During my first six weeks, I have been asked to leave on a few occasions, not often," says Nikola D. Simunovic '98. "There were times when I was in the middle of something."

Many students say that with Harvard's heavy workload and long hours of outside activities, they have hours to do their studying late at night.

"Most of the work gets done late at night," says Jason M. Goldberg '98, "because most of the people are doing extracurriculars in the evening."

Others say dorms are rarely a good venue for quiet cramming or homework.

"I think we need an extension of hours, because my room's really noisy and I can't get much studying done there most of the time," says James S. Chang '98. "At other schools, there are 24-hour libraries, and I was surprised when I came here this fall."

But others say the extra hours are only needed during high-traffic times like exams and reading period.

"At 1 a.m. this place is dead," says Caroline E. Kenney '95, circulation desk attendant at Lamont. "But it depends on the night and time of year. I have to say a lot of people are surprised on Thursday night when we kick them out at midnight."

Staffing Problems

Harvard officials say students likely won't see 24-hour libraries any time soon.

"To get people to staff a library between 12 p.m. and 7 a.m. is not an easy thing to do," says Richard De Gennaro, librarian of Harvard College.

Most undergraduate library jobs are part of the work study program, which already has more jobs than people to fill them, says Christopher C. Plumb, off-campus work study coordinator.

"My experience has been that when you need work-study people most, such as during exam period they're unavailable due to studies," De Gennaro says.

Staffing difficulties, however, are not limited to work-study positions.

"Many of the door-checkers don't live within walking distance of the library," says George H. Dunlap '74, evening supervisor for Cabot Library. "Public transportation is their means of getting home. What do they do at three in the morning?"

Security

The safety of students, employees, and library contents is another big worry for Harvard, De Gennaro says.