The sleepless night

Last year saw another edition of ‘Sleepless Night’, during which the University Library remained open all night.

In exam periods, students invariably call for extended opening hours of the library; as a modest response, and because a night like this is a good way to strengthen ties with our users, the UB remained open in the night of 18 to 19 January 2012.

There was a warm welcome in the stairwell by director Marjolein Nieboer, followed by small-scale activities at regular intervals. The library’s thirty-millionth visitor, for instance, was given a festive welcome. Chinese student Lui Xiaowan, who’d never set foot in the UB before, didn’t know what had hit her!

There were still a few hundred students left in the building in the first hours after midnight; the general impression was that students do not want to stay up all night (which would  also affect their concentration during exams), but do want to continue beyond midnight, which is when the library usually closes.

However, a few dozen die-hards stayed all night: forty students stretched their legs during morning gymnastics led by Johan Poppinga, followed by a well-deserved free breakfast in the canteen.