Elton S. Karrmann Library’s south doors have been unlocked after being closed permanently earlier this semester.
Crystal Fix, a business administration major, first brought this issue to the Student Senate. Fix started a petition hoping to get the doors unlocked, and after all her efforts, she was successful. Student Body President Joe Kluever and the rest of the Student Senate played a major roll in getting the doors unlocked.
“I worked here over the summer so I was kind of in the middle of it all,” Fix said. “I was really frustrated because I use those doors all the time. So I figured the rest of the students would be frustrated, too, and they were.”
This led Fix to start a petition to get the doors opened. She had nearly 300 signatures by the end of her efforts.
While Fix was focusing on getting the Platteville student body to support the cause, Kluever and the Student Senate spoke about Fix’s concerns. Three weeks ago, the Student Senate introduced a resolution to reopen the doors, and on Monday, Oct.14, the resolution was unanimously approved and sent to Assistant Vice-Chancellor Joanne Wilson.
The south doors have now been open since Wednesday, Oct.16 and will remain open. The south doors open at 7:45 a.m. and close at 7 p.m., while the north doors now open at 7:15 and still close at 11 p.m.
“When we closed the doors, we opened the remaining door at 7:15 to let students have more time to print papers before 8:00 a.m. classes. When we had to reopen them we still kept our early opening time,” Director of Karrmann Library Zora Sampson wrote in an email.
“My staff is stretched very thin but we want to serve student needs for library service,” Sampson said.
With the doors now open, library student worker Laci Kazan‘s desk has been moved directly next to the south entrance. The senior enviromental engineering major said her desk was moved in order for her to quickly respond if a student sets off the alarm with unchecked books.
Sampson said the staff member will help monitor the activities on that floor, and help stop the vandalism, which were a partial reason the doors were locked in the first place.
“I think the students are a lot happier,” Fix said. She started keeping a tally on how many students appreciated the doors being opened and had more than 100 students say they were glad the doors were open.
