Polytech apology over library hours

Lucy Simons says the situation needs to be sorted out. Photo by Peter McIntosh
Lucy Simons says the situation needs to be sorted out. Photo by Peter McIntosh
Otago Polytechnic has apologised to students after its library switched to holiday hours while projects and exams had not yet finished in some courses.

Health certificate student Lucy Simons said the sudden change to holiday hours was ''quite hard'' and ''really annoying''.

Robertson Library, which the polytech shares with the University of Otago, switched to holiday hours on June 18, the day after university examinations ended.

Ms Simons had an exam on June 22 after the library had been closed all weekend, as per holiday hours.

"We all needed to study over the weekend quite hard and it was completely shut all day,'' she said.

The polytech has contracted library services from the university since it gave up joint ownership of Robertson Library about a decade ago.

There have been complaints from several polytech students who still had exams to study for and projects to prepare.

Otago Polytechnic Students' Association acting president Stephen Kohey said he definitely thought the situation could have been handled better.

''It's quite a hard time of year for [students], because you have a lot of people needing to use the library for their ... end of term.''

Robertson Library committee chairwoman Sally Pairman said the polytech was ''very sorry'' for the ''unfortunate'' situation.

Dr Pairman, who is also the polytechnic's director of learning and teaching, said once she realised students wanted to study at the library and were unable to because of the holiday hours, she made sure to open up ''alternative [study] space''. She  had also sent out two ''all student body'' e-mails about the holiday hours.

She was aware of engineering, occupational therapy and nursing students having been affected by the holiday hours.

Ms Simons said she ended up using one of the alternative study spaces, but ''it just wasn't as good''.

''There were no books, no resources - nothing."

Dr Pairman said she did ask the university whether it would be possible to change the library's hours back until polytechnic students were done for the semester, but that it was not possible.

"They had already made arrangements for staff leave, and were unable to do that,'' she said. ''It would've been a big ask.''

Polytechnic chief operating officer Philip Cullen said since the tertiary institution gave up joint ownership of the library, the university had consulted the polytech on holiday library hours, and the polytech has consulted with its schools.

Dr Pairman said the polytechnic ''thought [the holiday library hours] would be okay'' after doing the standard check.

"We have recognised that we misread that,'' she said.

In November last year, the Robertson Library also switched to holiday hours at the end of the university semester, two weeks before polytech students were finished for the year.

Mr Cullen said as far as he knew, last month and November 2014 were the only times there had been a problem with the library hours changeover.

"There was nothing ''obvious'' that had changed this year to explain why it was a problem, he said. ''There's not usually an overlap [between] university and polytechnic holidays.''

The holiday hours listed on the Robertson Library's website for November at present correspond with the university's summer break, which is again scheduled to begin two weeks before the end of the polytech semester.

Dr Pairman was aware of the discrepancy and said she was planning to meet the university ''sometime in July'' to work it out.

She said ''the hours [listed online] are not the hours we expect they will be for the end of the year'', but added: ''I have no information from [the university] either way'' about if it would be willing to change the scheduled hours for November.

When Ms Simons heard the Robertson Library website still listed library holiday hours for the end of this year, she said: ''oh god''.

''They need to get it sorted - it's not helpful."

The University of Otago has declined to comment on the matter.

carla.green@odt.co.nz

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