When the coffee is flowing freely and tables at Library West are littered with study guides and review packets, Rachel Swansiger has a few strategies to beat the crowds.
"You can study anywhere quiet on campus besides the library," said Swansiger, a 21-year-old history and German senior. She recommends Pugh Hall for its comfortable chairs, and its smaller libraries offer fewer distractions.
However, Library West and Marston Science Library are the only libraries at UF that will be open longer during finals. From Sunday to Dec. 15, Library West will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. every day.
The libraries kept the same hours for Spring 2011 finals.
UF libraries Public Information Officer Barbara Hood said the first-floor Starbucks cafe will stay open the same hours as Library West.
Graduate students will still need ID cards to access the sixth floor of Library West. Any student can use all floors of Marston and the first through fourth floors of Library West, Hood said. The fifth floor is accessible to staff only.
The numbers of expected students and last year's library-goers were not available by press time.
Journalism junior Jesse Mixson, 20, said she doesn't usually deal with crowds at Library West and Marston. She said the first floor of Library West is usually available.
"I get a plush chair or desk every time I go downstairs - to myself!" she said.
