The Los Medanos College Library has provided a new, accessible way for students to receive further help and resources on campus–– their doors are now open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

According to Library Director Christina Goff, 94 students showed up to the first Saturday session, and 90 more the following Saturday. In total, the first week of the semester had 1,400 students coming into the library daily.

Goff explained that a few years ago the library offered expanded weekly hours, as well as being open on Saturdays, but the hours were cut in the wake of the economic crash. These expanded hours were brought back due to the increase in Saturday classes offered and because of an abundance of requests from students.

“Because we do have Saturday classes, we need to be available so students can use our resources and have a nice quiet place to work,” said Librarian Roseann Erwin.

President Bob Kratochvil added that the increase in hours is important because, for a lot of students, this is their only opportunity to access the Internet. LMC student Mayra Vasquez agrees, saying that she wants to start taking advantage of these new hours due to the noisy state of her house and how unreliable Starbucks is for her.

“Starbucks is always crowded and I can’t get the same resources there that I can get from the library,” said Vasquez.

“We’re really excited,” said Goff, “a lot of our students don’t have time during the week to get here and this is a good opportunity to meet the needs of students.”

The staff hopes that more students will take advantage of these new Saturday hours. A Reference Librarian is available to help you identify useful information sources, learn to search databases effectively, or just get started in the library. If students would like to make an appointment, they can visit the library website at losmedanos.libguides.com/contactalibrarian or call the Reference Desk at 925-473-7575 during the hours the desk is open–– 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Library hours are Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. and on Fridays from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. September 23 because of the statewide holiday, Native American Day.

Contributors: Cameron Toth and Kimberly Stelly