Last year, I had intended to write an article detailing the reasons I believed Ohio Northern University (ONU) should implement similar security measures that they use in our campus C-Store in order to keep Heterick Memorial Library, or select parts of it, accessible to students 24/7.
However, due to events that occurred in that stretch of time, my opinion has wavered to some extent.
Currently, Heterick is open 8:00 a.m. to 12 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, and 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Sundays, according to their library calendar.
While the Monday through Thursday hours are quite reasonable, and even generous compared to some of our fellow Ohio Athletic Conference-competing universities (such as Wilmington College’s Watson Library, which closes at 9 p.m. at the latest), I believe some students may benefit from having around-the-clock access to the building, its resources, and its quiet atmosphere.
As far as I am aware, ONU has a very select number of locations that are open to students 24/7. Obviously, the residence halls and their amenities are open, Klondike’s, the C-Store and its surrounding area, is open overnight, and there may be other locations that I have yet to come across in my years on campus.
The majority of these locations are primarily meant for social activity, though. Some residence hall student lounges and Klondike’s have pool tables, after all.
So when a student night owl wants somewhere other than their dorm to study, they are seemingly out of luck.
Sure, by the time 3 a.m. hits the majority of students have left these locations, but there are times when they haven’t. And why should they? Those areas are meant for socializing.
Not only that, but the bright lights and televisions screens, the smell of fried food, and sticky tables of Klondike’s make for a less-than-optimal study environment.
Keeping Heterick Memorial Library open to students 24/7 would solve this problem. A clean, quiet, and resource-rich environment is just what our more nocturnal students need. We wouldn’t even need access to the full building; I imagine just the first floor has more than enough private areas to meet demand.
Access to books, computers, and printers would benefit anyone in need of such resources, too.
According to Chief of Public Safety Craig Scott, two of the major components to keeping places like Klondike’s open 24/7 is “Cameras and key card access.”
We already have an ID card scanner that students are required to use in order to enter from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and all hours on Saturday, according to Director of Heterick Memorial Library Kathleen Baril.
Admittedly, I can see why ONU might be hesitant to make this change.
“…the library has many materials that are unsecured, which would need to be addressed,” says Baril. “Also the Northern Lights cafe has specialized equipment that would need to be secured if the library was open 24/7. Most importantly, we would need to consider student safety in case of emergencies and consider the installation of cameras.”
Scott shares similar reservations.
“I would have concerns as there would need to be added cameras installed,” says Scott.
And I do agree with these sentiments. There are a large number of electronic materials in the library that may be at risk without library staff present, and the library potentially having a larger area of space with less student traffic may make it less likely for anyone to come across an emergency in a timely manner.
Last spring semester, we also lost access to our C-Store for nearly a month due to several incidents of theft. Another point for ONU to be reasonably concerned about with regard to opening its doors for students without additional safeguards.
These factors make it understandable that ONU would want to ensure there is at least some staff present at all times while students are in the building.
However, I still believe that this course of action is worth consideration. Baldwin Wallace and Capital University, both of which are also universities in the Ohio Athletic Conference, offer 24/7 access to some or all areas of their libraries as of October 7, 2026.
Taggart Law Library here on ONU’s campus even has a portion open 24/7, although only for law students.
“The North Side of the library is only accessible 24/7 by law students. The law building itself has an ID scanner that Law Students could use to enter after the doors to the building had been locked. Prior to the building being accessible by ID card, the library was only available during staffed hours and the building closed at 10 PM,” says Director of the Taggart Law Library Dustin Johnston-Green.
Johnston-Green did also clarify that “we removed all library material from the North Side about five years ago. Prior to that, we kept the area locked, even when the rest of the building was open 24/7 to keep library materials secured when no staff were on duty.“
Personally, I believe the risk is worth giving students at ONU, law or otherwise, the opportunity to have a proper 24/7 study space.
“The library welcomes dialogue with students about hours[,] especially through their student voice on campus, Student Senate. We hope to continue to be a space where students feel welcome to study, collaborate and hang out,” says Baril.
ONU has the opportunity to implement something that would improve the quality of life and study habits of students, even if it’s just the ones with bad sleep schedules. It is worth consideration, and perhaps a trial run, to see whether our student body can handle it.