Florida A&M may be getting a 24-hour facility for students to study next semester.
SGA President Breyon Love said FAMU doesn’t have the funding for a 24-hour library. SGA, however, is working to have The University Commons opened all day.
“Student government is looking into sponsoring, for the last two weeks of school, a 24-hour library. We just got the funding available to make that happened,” Love said. “That was one of my biggest concerns with the administration, was having somewhere on campus to study, even if we couldn’t get the library.”
Whitnee Raeburn, a first-year biology student, is one of many students concerned about how they can study without interruption.
“It does bother me when I have to go study for my mid-terms. The library closes around 2 a.m., but it would help if it didn’t close,” Raeburn said.
“That way I can stay and study longer because it’s hard to study in my dorm room. When you’re studying, you’re in a zone in your own cubicle and then the security guard says you have to leave. When I start studying again, I have to get back in the zone and it’s hard.”
Florida State University has a 24-hour library, Strozier Library, that FAMU and TCC students can access.
Brandon Camille, a fourth-year business administration student, said getting kicked out of the library at closing time isn’t fair.
“It puts us at a disadvantage when we are already black students at an HBCU. A lot of companies in corporate America look down on our school,” Camille said. “Of course we can be self-motivated and go home, but the library provides things like computers and books, resources that we might not have at our own disposal.”
Javonte Johnson, a first-year business administration student, also has trouble finding a place to study.
“Students who have papers due early in the morning and students who have night classes might not be able to make it to the library, so they wouldn’t be able to do those papers,” Johnson said.
Love said a facility should be opened permanently next semester.
“I have a meeting next week with EIT to really see what’s going on. It will definitely be up at the beginning of next semester,” Love said. “It should have already been up.