Since its conversion to “laptop space” as part of this summer’s consolidation of computing and library services, Bryn Mawr’s Guild Hall, formerly a bustling 24-hour computer lab, has fallen into disuse. Its lights still blaze through the night, but the space is typically vacant even during the day. Guild still has two printers to which students can print from laptops using a wireless system. However, many students have had difficulty connecting to the wireless printing network in Guild. Additionally, two internet kiosk computers remain, frustrating and completely useless reminders of the old Guild.

Perhaps because of the difficulty of syncing their laptops with the printers or simply because they don’t carry their computers around, students have not been inclined to use the Guild printers. Instead, more and more students crowd into the expanded computer lab on the first floor of Canaday Library. With virtually the entire campus relying on a bank of four printers, jams and mix-ups are inevitable.

Understandably the administration has been trying to curb printing, both as a means of decreasing costs and making the campus more sustainable. However, the consolidation of computer and printing resources in Canaday has hardly decreased printing, only made it more chaotic. As long as professors continue to rely on Blackboard readings, which many students prefer to print, both for better reading comprehension and reference during class, printing levels will remain high.

Clearly Guild in its current incarnation is underutilized — and justly so. If students can use laptops virtually anywhere, why would they choose to use them in Guild? And what about the significant portion of the student body without laptops or even personal computers? For them Guild is truly a wasted space.

Notably, the conversion of Guild was conducted without student input. Students were simply notified over the summer of the stripping of the computer lab, a favorite campus study spot. Student input must be considered as the administration reevaluates the role of Guild on campus.

If Guild is to remain a “laptop space,” its wireless printing system must be improved to accommodate student printing. Another alternative would be to convert Guild into functional student space, as SGA has recently discussed. A concert venue on the level of Haverford’s Lunt Basement, as some students have suggested, would probably not be feasible due to Guild’s proximity to the street and residential areas. But Guild could be used to address the continuing dearth of student performance space on campus, not fully remedied by the renovation of Goodhart Theater.

Guild and the 24-hour lab in the basement of Canaday have proven insufficient to meet students’ computing and printing needs. The administration has responded to recent student requests for greater computer access by agreeing to keep Canaday open continuously on a trial basis for the last two weeks of the semester.

But 24-hour technological needs are not just a finals week phenomenon. And, unlike Guild, Canaday is a fully functioning library: keeping it open through the night requires extensive student labor and energy. While the library’s student staffing budget is flexible enough to accommodate two weeks of extended hours, the library cannot sustain round the clock service throughout the academic year.

Additionally, the library has had difficulty scheduling students for nighttime shifts even for such a limited period, having to draw from student staff pools at Bryn Mawr’s other two libraries, Carpenter and Collier. Furthermore, the energy required to power Canaday continuously for two weeks is enormous, particularly for a campus struggling to become sustainable, a campus that, in part, closed Guild to cut printing.

Clearly long-term 24-hour access to Canaday is economically, practically, and environmentally unsustainable. However, student demands for printing and computer access must be met and not just during finals week.

The obvious solution is to restore computers to Guild. However, the college is unlikely to reverse last summer’s consolidation of information services, an integration that has, by all accounts, been very successful and cost effective on the administrative level. But steps can be taken to make Canaday a more functional computer lab space, including

·      increasing the number of printers available for student use in Canaday, perhaps by moving the underused printers from Guild to Canaday

·      giving students 24-hour access to Canaday’s first floor and its computer resources but not the library itself. Serving as simply a computer lab after hours, the main floor could operate much like the small 24-hour lab in the basement. Students would not have access to the stacks, therefore eliminating the need to staff the circulation desk or light all five floors of the building. We operate under an honor code. Students should be trusted to use library space respectfully without supervision.

Cost saving measures such as the consolidation of library and computing services that led to the transfer of computers from Guild to Canaday shouldn’t come at the price of student access to vital technology. Although this consolidation may be permanent, the administration can take measures to make it more functional for the student body.

Staff editorials are the consensus opinion of the Editorial Board, whose 26 members are listed on Page 2. Lauren Smith stood outside of consensus due to a conflict of interest. Haig Minassian also stood outside of consensus.

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