Library Pilot Hours: What the Data Support
Last semester, the University Library ran a three-week pilot that kept the main reading room open from 7 a.m. Monday to 11 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Before the pilot, the library closed at 6 p.m. on weekdays and at 2 p.m. on Saturdays. The library recorded 1,240 additional visits during the pilot. A survey of 300 students found that 68% said the longer hours helped them meet deadlines, but only 41% said they would regularly use the library after 10 p.m. Staffing the extra hours cost 1,800 dinars per week. The library director wrote that the pilot 'met a real need' but noted that late-night noise complaints from a nearby dormitory rose from 2 to 11 during the same period. The student council president argued that the data show demand is concentrated in the early evening, not late at night.
1. Which claim about late-night demand is best supported by the passage? Explain using two specific details.
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The best-supported claim is that late-night demand is limited and not clearly established. Two details support this. First, only 41% of surveyed students said they would regularly use the library after 10 p.m., which is a minority. Second, late-night noise complaints rose from 2 to 11, showing that extended late hours created a measurable conflict. The 1,240 additional visits cannot prove strong late-night demand because the passage does not break visits down by hour. A careful reader should not treat total visits as if they were all after 10 p.m.
2. The director says the pilot 'met a real need.' How would the student council president most likely qualify this statement?
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The president would probably agree that there is real demand, but would locate it in the early evening rather than late at night. The president could point to the 68% who said longer hours helped them meet deadlines, which supports some need, and then contrast that with the 41% who would regularly use the library after 10 p.m. The president could also note that the 1,240 extra visits are not time-stamped, so they do not show when demand occurred. Thus the director's phrase is too broad: it may be true for evening hours but not for late-night hours.
3. Which additional data would most help decide whether to keep weekend hours? Explain why.
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The most useful data would be hourly visit counts for weekdays, weekends, and late nights, because the current total of 1,240 visits hides when students actually came. If weekend visits were high and late-night visits were low, the library could shorten late hours while keeping weekend hours. A second useful piece would be staffing cost per hour, since 1,800 dinars per week is a total and does not show whether weekend hours are cheaper or more expensive than late-night hours. Survey responses about intended use are weaker evidence than observed entry counts, so they should be secondary.