By: Stefany Olivas, Managing Editor
The window-lined study cubes in the upstairs southwest corner of the library are too hot and too bright, making it difficult to work on the computers in that area, said Computer Lab Assistant and Environmental Safety and Health major Kathy Johargrove.
The sun makes it hard for the students to see the material on the screens of the computer stations in the area, and the Instructional Technicians also struggle to see the screen when helping students, she said.
“If you’re facing away from the sun, it shines right on your screen. If you’re looking into the sun, it’s so bright you can’t see the screen,” she said.
The Computer Help Station had been located in the study-cube area and moved because of the lighting problem, but the student stations are still there. Johargrove said she and the other work-study students attempted to block the sun with large pieces of paper on the windows, but had to remove them at the end of each day. Now they are not allowed to put anything on the windows, she said.
“We were over there and the sun was so disagreeable,” said Johargrove. “It would be nice if there was some kind of shade or some way to help the students to work more comfortably back there.”
Interim Head Librarian Poppy Johnson-Renvall said in an email that ACE officially receives the complaints from the help desk work-study students, but knows the station was moved after an increase in student use of the area and because the help desk location was a fire hazard.
They have not received complaints from students in that area for two years, but there are suggestion boxes throughout the library, she said.
Interim Director of ACE Gina Rodriguez said that ACE is working to see if a solution can be determined for the area.
“We are working with Facilities to determine a solution whether it is window shades or a revision to the infrastructure to allow for movement of the computers,” said Rodriguez.
Johargrove said she was told by Johnson-Renvall that the issue was analyzed, but putting in shades or curtains was against the building code.
“It seems like it would not be against any rule or regulation to have some,” said Johargrove.
Pre-Health Science major Yvette Gallegos said that the library study cubes are too hot and too bright to work in.
She said she attempts to use computers in the library area, but all of them are often full. Often, she does her schoolwork in the study cubes, but leaves the area when it gets too hot, she said.
“I was trying to find a computer on the other side because the sun is just in your face and it’s kind of hard to concentrate,” said Gallegos.
This is her first semester and she studies on the computers every day; and although summer is over, it is still too hot to work in the study cubes, she said.
