RANDY METCALF/Arizona Daily Wildcat Family studies junior Brittany Ward looks through the books on the third floor of the Main Library. The library is busiest on Sundays and Mondays, says library staff.

Computers are connected to the Internet at all times, laser printers silently spew information and study rooms are encased in glass ÷ these are reasons why the UA Main Library is 29th in the nation, according to the Association of Research Libraries.

Available to students 24 hours per day, five days a week, and open until 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, the Main Library and Information Commons are convenient for students in need of a place to study, read or write.

Prior to the spring of 1998 the UA library was like most college libraries ÷ it opened at 7 a.m. and closed its doors at 1 a.m., according to Vicki Mills, an undergraduate services librarian who has been with the UA library for 25 years.

However, that March a pilot project was hatched that changed the library students were used to. Former provost Paul Sypherd requested that the library be open 24 hours per day throughout the week, according to Mills.

The Information Commons is like a woman's purse. The bigger it gets, the more it holds -Vicki Mills, undergraduate services librarian

It was also intended that the Information Commons, with up-to-date computers, scanners and assorted equipment, be available to students 24 hours per day as well. But due to budget cuts in late 2001, by the time the Commons opened in January of 2002, hours had already been cut back on the weekend, Mills said.

However, whenever funding is given to the library, administrators face the question of where to direct the money ÷ toward extended hours on the weekends, or to more equipment in the Information Commons.

"I would prefer more equipment so that when I go to the library I can just sit down and get my work done, instead of having to stalk people for their computers," said pre-architecture sophomore Tamara Spindler.

Other students would prefer longer hours on the weekend to provide greater flexibility to their study schedules.

"I go to the library every weekend," said UA pre-pharmacy sophomore Nicole Turner. "It's the only time I can go because during the week I'm in school during the day and I work at night."

The library is busiest on Sundays and Mondays, and tapers down from there, according to Mills.

"I would say 95 percent of students are doing other things than being at the library on Friday and Saturday nights," Mills said.

Taking all things into consideration, the library has decided to direct their present funding toward 25 new computers for the Information Commons. Additionally, they will purchase six to eight computers equipped with multi-media software, enabling students to digitally edit and enhance video ÷ among other things ÷ that will be available in the fall, according to Mills.

A staff member with multi-media expertise will also be hired to work approximately 40 hours per week in the fall. He or she would be on hand to help with the new software, according to Mills.

"The Information Commons is like a woman's purse," Mills said. "The bigger it gets, the more it holds."