Monday’s exams and deadlines should be rescheduled after tomorrow’s unexpected library closure

There's never really a good time, especially if you're in third or fourth year, for the library to be closed. Ever since the library kept its doors open for 24 hours a day earlier in 2017, students have had the luxury of being able to use its services at any time of the day to suit their own needs and routines.

Yesterday's announcement that the central library will be shut for 24 hours this Sunday couldn't have come at a worse time for a significant number of students, who are about to embark on the most important exams of their lives so far.

It would be easy to dismiss the closure as a mild inconvenience. After all, you could just work at home for once.

This might be true for a majority of students, who at most will have their routine disrupted, but for people with exams and deadlines on Monday this is genuinely a big deal.

For those who require usage of library books, specifically those only available on the HUB reserve, they simply do not have enough to time to alter their revision plans before Monday.

Finding out that you won't be able to access resources for a full 24 hours, just three days before your exam, not only has massive practical consequences, but will also give hundreds of students unnecessary additional stress in the run up to their exams and deadlines.

At the moment, no one seems to be at fault for the library's sudden closure. These things happen and are out of the university's control. However, what is in the control of the university and its respective schools is that they can ensure that students have a fair crack at doing the best they can in their exams. Depriving them of crucial resources the day before an exam is simply not OK.

The solution is simple – courses that require use of library resources should postpone and reschedule all deadlines and exams that were due to take place on Monday. It might be practically difficult, but any logistical challenges are preferable to hard working students being shafted by something out of their control just before their exams.

At the moment, it seems unlikely that such postponements will take place. In a statement to The Tab, A University spokesperson made no reference to potential exam rescheduling. She said: "We deeply regret any disruption to students at this very important time of year, and we are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

"This emergency repair work is being carried out on a Sunday to minimise the impact on students."

On whether the university is considering postponing Monday exams, they added that they are not aware of any plans to do and that "students will be kept informed by email, social media, web updates and text messages if there are any changes to current arrangements."

Meanwhile EUSA are working to minimise any potential disruptions students may face. EUSA President Patrick Kilduff told The Tab: "We are in conversations with the University to ensure there is as minimal disruption for students as possible."

The Tab has also reached out to the Business School, the PPLS School and the Social Anthropology department asking whether or not they'll look to postpone Monday's exams, and at the time of writing, none have responded.