Finding a quiet place to study late at night on the weekends may not be the easiest thing to do, but the library is aiming to solve the problem.

Last week, the Main Library established extended weekend hours to ensure convenience for students.

On Fridays and Saturdays, the library will now be open until midnight. In addition, 24-hour access will be offered for the second, third and fourth floors of the west wing. The Cyber Cafe will be offering the same extended hours.

Before the new hours went into effect, the library was open 24 hours a day during the week only on the first floor, and only until 11 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday.

Stephanie Mathson, a library assistant for Library Instruction, said any service that helps students is worth the effort.

“We are trying to respond to the needs of the campus community and their desires,” she said. “I think anything that provides more information and better access to our patrons is worthwhile.”

In addition to new hours, the library has been upgrading its technology resources.

The library is expecting Macintosh computers in the coming weeks for use at the south end of the reference area, to add to the 35 Dell computers that were received last week. Since the summer, the library has received 115 computers, including both new and replacement machines that can operate faster.

Most of them are classified as full-application machines, which is the same setup as the computer labs in the residence halls. Other new machines are classified as open to the Internet for selected library resources, and may be accessed without student authentication.

The library has also updated the machines in the library instruction rooms and the electronic resources room.

Two weeks ago, a sign system was added to help students navigate through the building’s resources. It includes free-standing directories with map graphics and an information wall across from the information desk for assistance.

Faye Backie, assistant director of Public Services, said she thinks the signs will help library patrons locate what they are looking for with ease.

“I am very excited about our new sign system so people can navigate the building,” she said. “So far, people seem to be finding their way much better.”

Backie said the technological changes will benefit patrons as well.

“I think that we have made changes every year to try and give the students as much access to information as they need,” she said.

Clifford Haka, director of Libraries, said he thinks students have responded positively to the changes, especially the 200 ports the library offers.

Haka said the 75 new Internet ports added in the last year and a half, which students with laptops can use to connect to the library system, are helpful considering a new university policy - which requires incoming freshman to own computers.

“With the incoming class, many of whom brought laptops as their required computers, we need to make sure they have adequate capacity,” he said. “We are trying to make the library include both access to traditional resources and online resources like the Internet.”