Firestone Library will open earlier on weekends during the 2023–24 school year, following calls from students for the library to expand its hours.
With this change, part of a pilot program being test-run this fall, students will now have access to Firestone on Friday and Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. — rather than 11 a.m. — and ending at 11 p.m. Opening hours from Sunday to Thursday will remain 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. The library is the latest institution to try to accommodate more students' schedules. Campus dining recently announced a plan to pilot food truck from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on traditional nights that students attend events on Prospect Ave.
Library Communications Director Barbara Valenza, in a statement to The Daily Princetonian, wrote that employees were given a memo over the summer informing them of the new hours and that the initiative to extend library hours is part of a pilot the library has started to “study the feasibility” of such a change.
“The Library is committed to being responsive to the evolving needs of students, faculty, staff, and other researchers,” Valenza said.
Valenza told the ‘Prince’ that the library will reassess “the effectiveness of the pilot at the end of the fall term.”
The news of expanding hours is still spreading across campus. Louisa Gheorghita ’26 said she was unaware of the change, given that Firestone did not send any notices to the student body about the updated hours.
“I was not aware that Firestone had changed its hours, and I don’t think any of my friends were either,” Gheorghita stated.
Gheorghita is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’
Sofia Sanchez ’27 praised Firestone for expanding hours and hopes that additional changes in the daily operations of the library may come in the near future.
“As a morning person, I think eight o’clock is a good time. If it’s possible for the staff, I’d even go as far to say seven in the morning,” Sanchez said.
Firestone’s expanding hours are also impacting Princeton’s graduate student population.
“I like to get going at 7 a.m.,” John Kearns GS told the ‘Prince.’ When there are no libraries open, Kearns goes to a coffee shop instead.
Students can visit the library website https://library.princeton.edu/hours to view current library hours.
Jasmyn Dobson is a senior News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Hannah Lee is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that Firestone's hours were being extended on Saturdays and Sundays, rather than on Fridays and Saturdays.
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