As students begin settling into a campus void of the renovated library they were promised, some are feeling disappointed while others are just keeping their sights on opening day.

Senior Angela Doss, a finance major, said she feels let down about the unopen library because her days on Eastern’s campus are numbered, as she plans to graduate this May.

“I’m disappointed because I will graduate at the end of the semester and I won’t be able to use the new library very much,” she said.

Some students mentioned that they were mainly upset about the delay because they find the temporary library facilities inadequate.

Jessica Dailey, a junior biological sciences major, said it is a pain “that we have to wait for books, unless you have a car, which many people don’t.”

Junior Gustavo Casanova, an accounting major, labeled the split library facilities “unfamiliar.”

And freshman Cassie Martin said that it is even hard to find what she wants within the library-converted McAfee Gym.

“I’m the kind of person who just likes to go to the shelves and browse for interesting-looking books,” she said.

“With the library as it is now, it’s hard to do that.”

Martin, a biological sciences major, also commented that the basement of McAfee is “really stuffy” and she said she can’t wait until the new building is up and running.

Margaret Pedzawiatr, a freshman communication disorders and sciences major, described the McAfee Gym library section as too cluttered and crammed.

“I think that the new library will be much more convenient and easier to use,” she said.

Lacia Douglas, a senior Speech Communication major, said she is satisfied with Hencken’s decision to postpone the opening of the library until it is completely ready.

“When the library is done, it will be the best it has been on Eastern’s campus ever,” she said. “I feel like they can take the extra time if they need it.”

The original opening date for the Booth Library, which has been undergoing a $21-million renovation for the past 2 years, was set for Jan.7, a date administrators stuck too until just after students left for winter break.

Interim President Lou Hencken said that the decision to delay the library opening was made to “have a better functioning system” when the public was let in. The administration says the delay centers around the south entrance stairwell, which was scheduled to be the first entrance of the building to open.

A design change to the stairwell was made over 6 months ago, Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs, said, and negotiations about its cost went on for months between contractors and the state’s Capitol Development Board, which oversees the projects funding and contracting.

The delay in the change prevented the stairwell’s and south atrium’s flooring from being installed on time and thus prevented the opening of the south entrance.

Hencken has said the library will open within a month or so, but he could not give a specific date.

Junior Robert Groos, an accounting major, said he wasn’t really counting on the opening of the library to be on Jan. 7 anyway.

“I figured it would be late, and I have no problem with the system now,” he said. “I’ve been using this system since I was a freshman, so I am used to it.”

Ann Clatfelter, a senior English major, also said that she is accustomed to the current library system.

“Most of what I need is in McAfee, like articles, so it’s not too inconvenient,” she said. “Of course it will be more convenient when it is all in one building.”

But Lisa Collins, a junior zoology major, said that it is an annoyance to locate certain books in the scattered branches of Booth Library.

“There are some people who do not have cars to get the books over by the Osco Drug Store,” she said. “You can have the books sent over, but if you have a deadline for a paper, and you need to use the book, you can’t wait for it. It’s a big hassle.”

Freshman Lyndsey Brown, an elementary education major, seemed to agree.

“McAfee is so unorganized,” she said. “There is no clear direction. One whole building will definitely be better.”

A Booth Library employee declined to be interviewed.