Keeping the library accessible, at all hours, in the thick of finals

This is the second article in an occasional Lo Que Pasa series that highlights U of A employees who work outside traditional daytime hours. The first one featured Cat Tran driver Bill Mason. Think we should feature someone you work with? Email Kyle Mittan at mittank@arizona.edu.

On a recent night in early December, at about 7 p.m., the building's lower floors hummed with groups of students huddled around projects. Food wrappers and empty, holiday-themed Starbucks cups were stuffed into trash cans outside packed study rooms. Formulas, essay outlines and other notes covered the rooms' glass walls and whiteboards as students crammed, some focused, others weary-eyed. A few floors up, deep in the stacks, students found spaces to work in relative silence. 

Many intended to stay at the library into the wee hours: A message scrawled on the board outside one study room declared that it was reserved until 1 a.m., another until 3 a.m. The Main Library is open to the public from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. most days of the week. It's accessible by CatCard at night so the university community can use it until midnight, and during finals, it's open around the clock.

Ensuring the library remains safe and accessible for everyone is always top of mind. But that mission becomes perhaps most critical around finals season, when the libraries count as many as 5,380 visitors per day, a roughly 35% uptick over a more average day midsemester.

That mission toward safety amid a surge in nighttime library use is supported by Diona Lumia. Lumia, a library services associate in University Libraries' Access and Information Services Department, is an operational lead focused on building safety and operations. 

On this night in early December, just before finals week began, Lumia walked every floor in the Main Library and the adjacent Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library – just as she does every shift. She peeked discretely into every study room and peered around every corner where someone might be inclined to curl up and study.

During these walkthroughs, Lumia is taking headcounts, and, yes, patrolling for mischief. But her priority is ensuring the library buildings are a safe and calm environment for students to work, and that the spaces are generally being used as intended. 

"We're just making sure everybody is using the space respectfully and safely so that we can continue to be a public institution," she said, "but so we can also continue to have the hours we have so we can support student education."

Loving the library environment

Lumia came to the U of A College of Science as a transfer student from Pima Community College and earned her Bachelor of Science in molecular and cellular biology in 2021. While a student, Lumia worked in University Libraries' Special Collections where she assisted librarians, archivists and visiting researchers with research requests. 

Right out of undergrad, Lumia found a role helping manage a lab in the College of Medicine – Tucson's Department of Immunobiology. After almost three years there, Lumia missed the library environment and began looking for a role that could bring her back to the Main Library. She returned about two years ago.

Libraries' roles as "third spaces" – places where people gather socially outside of home and work – makes it a unique space on campus, Lumia said. Where else on campus can someone go to study, hang with their friends, hold an anime movie night or host a Dungeons and Dragons tournament?

"All that stuff happens here because it's more than just a place where we house the books," she said. "And most of that happens after the campus closes down." 

'These hours are fun'

Lumia is one of three operational leads focused on safety at the libraries, but the only lead who works the night shift alongside about 10 other staff members. 

"Diona is part of a critical team that ably manages the libraries' spaces and front-line services and ensures that the libraries continue to be an important learning space where students can engage in collaboration and exploration," said Harriett Green, vice dean of University Libraries.

On a normal day, Lumia wakes up a bit before noon and takes a few hours for herself before arriving for her shift at 3:15. Her shift formally ends around midnight when the library closes, and after winding down, she's usually in bed by 5 a.m.

"These hours are fun," said Lumia, who said that many of her fellow night-shifters like the hours for the flexibility to balance other commitments. "But for me, it just made sense to do this – I'm a night owl anyway, so I'm up."

While Lumia is making the rounds – during which she hopes to log at least 20,000 steps on a typical night – she's also on-call to respond quickly to any team members who reach her by radio. Calls commonly come from staff working the "Ask Us" desks located throughout the library who often get requests that are not at all related to the library's services.

"We've heard and seen it all. Obviously, we're a helpful bunch in general and there are things we can Google and assist with to be polite," Lumia said. Most calls can be handled by desk staff, but when they need advanced assistance, they call Lumia.

Lumia's first instinct in such calls is to understand how she can help. But she appreciates the strong working relationship she and her library colleagues have with the University of Arizona Police Department, which responds to the occasional calls that escalate beyond Lumia's expertise.

"We do have Counseling and Psych Services as a mental health resource for students, but for members of our public, there are some things that I just don't feel comfortable stepping into, so it really helps when UAPD is able to arrive and assist with those sorts of calls," Lumia said, adding that all operational leads at the library have been through UAPD's Community Academy, a semester-long evening program that teaches participants the department's protocols.

During a lull in the middle of a shift last week, Lumia reflected on why she likes the work. She thought about her time as a fresh transfer from Pima, grinding toward her own degree. 

She sees a similar drive in the students cramming on the floors she's patrolling.

"It's so inspiring – even in the low days, they're still showing up and pushing through to their dreams and their goals," she said. "I'd like to say I did that too, so it's nice to see it in our students."