Booth Library has extended their hours and is offering help for students during finals week.

The library will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Wednesday and will resume normal hours on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Niarra Mitchell, Booth Library employee and a senior emergency management and disaster preparedness major, said students will also have the chance to relieve stress from finals while at the library.

The EIU Mindfulness Club is hosting “Destress with Meditation” sessions in the Edgar Room of Booth Library on Monday and Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

In addition to alleviating stress, the sessions will also teach students techniques that reduce anxiety and strengthen focus.

Mitchell, who works at the security desk in Booth Library, said she has noticed there are more students in the library at night than during the day, and she advised students to come earlier in the day if possible.

“At least come an hour or two earlier,” she said. “If you come 30 minutes before we close, you are not going to get anything done.”

Rachel Papavasilopoulos, sophomore biology major, said she and Makenna Wilson, sophomore biology major, frequent the library throughout the semester in addition to finals week.

“We kind of float around if anything,” Papavasilopoulos said. “We go to the 24-hour lounge too.”

Papavasilopoulos said she and Wilson usually take advantage of the study rooms in Booth Library because the white boards available in the rooms are helpful.

“Since the main thing we are always studying is chemistry, we like to use the study rooms with the white boards,” Papavasilopoulos said. “I went up there last week, and it wasn’t even finals week yet, but I couldn’t find a room. I waited for, like, an hour.”

Wilson said finals week can be frustrating as a regular library-goer because there are a lot more people than there normally are, so the library can feel crowded.

“Sometimes there’s just one person sitting in (the study rooms),” she said. “I definitely think it would be nice to have a system in place to reserve a spot for the study rooms, so we all get a chance.”

Papavasilopoulos said she has only seen one other person utilizing a white board in the study rooms, so she suggested other places for students to study.

“The union can be a good place, especially if you want to eat,” she said. “If the union is too loud, the 24-hour study lounge is a little more casual (than the library) and not as quiet. It’s a little more relaxed than the library.”

Mitchell said students should come to the library not only during finals week but also throughout the semester because more work can be completed.

“My room is associated with me being lazy,” she said. “I can sit there at my desk and not do my homework. The library makes you feel more professional. I get more work done on (library) computers than I do on my laptop.”

Hannah Shillo can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].