With semester finals approaching, Raynor Library officials and members of Marquette Student Government met Monday to discuss problems with the new library.

Dean of Libraries Nicholas Burckel met with members of MUSG’s Student Life committee to discuss student issues with usage of the library, especially the possibility of keeping the second floor open 24 hours a day, theft of student property, the noise level in study areas and computer usage.

There are 290 seats available on the library’s first floor, according to Burckel. Since early September, late- night usage of the area has been the busiest Sundays through Tuesdays.

“We’d like to try keeping the second floor and the bridge open until 2 a.m. from Dec. 1 through 12, only around exam time, to accommodate the needs of the students,” Burckel said.

MUSG representatives say one floor isn’t enough.

“We’d like to have the option of possibly keeping the basement open at those times also since all the reserves are kept there and students tend to need them for research,” said Brant McCartan, Schroeder Hall senator.

While both options are viable, Burckel said students might ultimately have to make a decision between the two.

“As far as the reserves are concerned, all of them are on electronic reserve and students should be able to gain access to them,” Burckel said. “Overall, we’ll probably only be able to extend the hours of one floor since we have a limited number of staff and resources so it’ll be up to students and MUSG to decide what floor they want. We want to be able to help the most number of students with this decision.”

The demand for extended second floor hours is still high, according to sophomore Beth Feste, university library board undergraduate representative.

“My experience has been that there’s more students using the second floor and when it’s time to close, there’s this mass exit and some students just leave the library totally because they don’t have anyplace else to study,” Feste said.

Another important issue to students has been the noise level — especially at the Brew on the Bridge, McCartan said.

While the library leaves students in charge to control noise, McCartan said that there could be other options to solve the problem, including signs around the most-used study areas.

The Raynor has also added new software to their computers. Adobe InDesign, installed a few weeks ago, was part of an agreement between the College of Communication and Information Technology Services. The software seems to be meeting the needs of communication students, according to Head of Library Systems and Automation Jim Lowrey.

Another issue discussed at the meeting was students carrying food and drink outside of the bridge area, Burckel said.

“We’re having incidents where students will spill drinks on the computers, leave food behind or spill stuff on the carpet,” Burckel said. “This is a major issue since computers can get damaged and we don’t have the money to constantly spot-clean the carpets.”

Burckel said signs, having specialized discount mugs for drinks bought at the Brew on the Bridge and having staff monitoring the exit or prohibiting students from bringing outside food and drink into the library are all potential answers to the problem.

Another meeting is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 16 to further discuss the student library issues.