By Molly Burke
Students can relax with therapy dogs, play games and study during extended hours at the William F. Maag, Jr. Library during finals week.
The library’s hours will be extended from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 28, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 29, 1 p.m. to midnight April 30 and 7:30 a.m. to midnight May 1 through 3.
Ana Torres, a co-director at Maag Library, said the extended hours are for students preparing for finals.
“Most of the students — what they need is the space to be able to study and finalize their projects — so we extend our hours,” Torres said. “We want the students to be successful and we want to provide … the various sources that they need to be successful and relax a little bit.”
Torres said Dogsmartz Unleashed in Poland will be providing therapy dogs in the library’s lobby from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. April 30, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 1 and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. May 2.
“We brought [the service dogs] last semester through Dogsmartz Unleashed. They provide therapy dogs with their owners and it was a wonderful experience and the students very much appreciated that,” Torres said.
Archives specialist and record management specialist, Lisa Garofali, said there are small activities for students who want to decompress while they study.
“We also have some small activities like coloring for mindfulness, and we have some origami and puzzles and we have games if students are stressed out and just need to take a break,” Garofali said.
Maag has offered resources for students during finals week in years past. Garofali said she always wants to support students.
“For years we’ve always offered some relaxation activities, we’ve had extended hours for as long as I can remember if students really need it,” Garofali said. “We’ve always been there to support the students and help them any way we can.”
Cassie Nespor, curator of University Archives and Melnick Medical Museum, said there will be a stress relief paper shredder for students who want to alleviate stress.
“We put out paper that students can write on if they want. You can write down what you’re stressed about, or the final that just happened,” Nespor said. “You put it through that shredder and it’s gone. It just kind of helps you relieve and just let go of whatever that was that was stressing you out.”
Nespor said the library is always incorporating new services to keep up with the needs of students.
“We have charging cords for your phone or laptop. Those are things that we just saw students needed and we bought them,” Nespor said. “The medical models was something we saw students need … We do a lot of that stuff throughout the year as we see the needs of students evolving.”
Silent study areas are available throughout Maag. Nespor said she encourages students to take advantage of the quiet space and explained where students can find them.
“I think the library is a great place to study for finals,” Nespor said. “My personal favorite is the quiet floors on 5, 5A, 6 and 6A where I need complete silence to read and really focus on what I’m doing. There are nice views here so if you need to get off of your screen for a bit.”
For more information about Maag Library and its services, check out its website.
