The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Undoubtedly, the library had good intentions last week, when it announced changes to its booking system – which included a new check-in system, a 25-hour limit on bookings per week and the introduction of stewards to verify bookings.
In reality, however, these changes to the booking system led to confusion among students, prompting the library to apologise and temporarily suspend some of the new measures, throwing into sharp relief just how illogical some of the new regulations are.
Why, for example, did the library introduce a check-in system if it is possible to check in from anywhere?
To make matters even more frustrating, we won’t know whether or not these changes will make it easier to book a library seat until the week after next, as this week still covered students who could book two weeks in advance previous to the new rules.
Of course, the previous booking system was far from perfect either: issues with students booking seats and then failing to show up, or students occupying seats they had not booked are evidence enough that changes were necessary.
Unfortunately, these changes have left us with similar problems: the more things change, the more they frustratingly seem to stay the same. There are other issues which the Library still needs to address, such as the fact that students who wish to study in Kinsella Hall are required to book each individual slot through Eventbrite.
But this is not the first time that the library has had hiccups in its management. In 2019, the library drew ire from students after it cut its opening hours over the Easter weekend, just days ahead of the exam season that started that Tuesday.
There has been consistent and coherent messaging around personal responsibility when it comes to protecting public health during this pandemic. Some students have failed to take personal responsibility when it comes to sharing the library with their peers.
And while seating capacity is reduced, no one expected the library to get everything right. But most students have had to put up with no in-person teaching for this term. The least College could do, then, is to make sure that the library experience is as accessible as possible.
