We need to open the study rooms in the La Trobe Library
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, La Trobe University has enforced the closure of all private study rooms in the Borchardt Library. Whilst this may have started as a preventative measure for limiting the spread of the infectious disease, given the easing of COVID-19 restrictions over the last year, The university should be more receptive to the needs of their students and open these rooms (which they promised at the start of the year).
Monash and Melbourne University have granted student access to private access rooms as of the start of 2022, so I would like to outline in this article why La Trobe should follow through on the promise they made to the student body. The first argument I would like to draw your attention to is that these private study rooms are an essential part of university life and provide multi-dimensional opportunities for all students across campus.
Private study rooms provide students with an opportunity to isolate themselves from exterior distractions and focus solely on their work at hand, allowing them to produce substantially higher quality work. Inversely, these private rooms can provide a group of students a chance to work on assignments together and study collaboratively without fear of distracting other students in public library spaces. We must also consider the needs for students with ADHD, dyslexia and other learning difficulties, who may wish to access these private spaces for other reasons. With this in mind, I’d like to outline that these private spaces are not currently being used for any benevolent purpose.
Level 1 of the Borchardt library, as those who frequent it can appreciate, is often incredibly busy and it can be difficult to find a space to study there, let alone focus without distractions. Level 2 study rooms, on the other hand, are purely used for storage purposes. Opening these study rooms to students would greatly ease the congestion on Level 1 and 2 and be beneficial to all students. Other study rooms located around the campus, such as at the education buildings, TLC buildings and business room buildings, have already granted students access to their private rooms, so why is Borchardt Library any different? Regardless, these other private study rooms are scarcely accessed by students, so the Borchardt Library, the main library on campus, should follow a similar procedure.
As a parting note, I would like to highlight that, given Melbourne’s easing of COVID-19 restrictions, there are no valid reasons for the private study rooms in the library to remain closed. In fact, one might even argue that opening up the study rooms would provide a more COVID-safe approach than keeping them closed, as students would be more spread out. La Trobe University should restore access to these private study rooms and allow students to access an intrinsic part of the university experience which they have sorely missed over the last two years.
Photo credit: latrobe.edu.au