But even with this rejection, the council’s proposal is not entirely dead, Leahy said.

She said the library would consider extending hours as part of a general project the library system will conduct this spring to improve Lamont.

She said she will meet in the spring with many student groups, including the council, to solicit information on ways to better serve students. Along with later hours, Leahy also said Lamont would consider providing better wireless internet access within the library.

For now, offering later hours without more planning would be premature, she said.

“It is this kind of thing we need to address holistically,” she said. “I don’t think there’s an objection to it but we don’t want to do it badly.”

While Leahy noted one possibility could be leaving only a small portion of the library open during late night hours, she said the building’s five staircases would make it difficult to restrict use to one area.

While she said a renovation could be in the future for Lamont, she said no building project would be launched before the completion of the Widener renovation in 2004.

—Staff writer William M. Rasmussen can be reached at wrasmuss@fas.harvard.edu