Library Hours

The Exeter High School Library is an important part of the school community, especially its function as a space for students to study and spend time around school hours. In previous years, the library was open from 6:45 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. nearly every day, giving students a place to study, browse the library’s resources, and wait for other events to begin. At the beginning of this year, though, the library closed at 3, due primarily to staffing issues. Since then, a new library assistant, Ms. Barry, has been hired and the hours have been extended closer to their original times. To find out more about these changes, we talked to Mr. Giuliucci, the head librarian.

Note: Interview has been edited for length and clarity

Interviewer/Lucia Bonafede

Mr. Giuliucci

What are the biggest benefits of having the library for student use at EHS?

I think the library is the one spot in the school where all students can come…to collaborate and study and just socialize. I don’t think there’s another place in the school where that’s available…From one perspective, I think that’s the most important function of the library. Of course, we are a library: we have books and we have resource tools, and there’s that function also, but I think a lot of kids use this as a space that’s available to them, that’s not available in other places. 

What are the biggest issues impacting the library right now?

We are occasionally overrun with students... During study halls and especially during lunch we’ve been quite full, and it’s difficult to balance the needs of the library with the social needs of the students. I think we’re getting there, I think that we have managed to get lunches under control in terms of the number of people who are here. Sometimes study halls get too big and we just kind of stop and remind people that we are in a library. I think that’s the only concern that I have. As far as us being a functional library, I think that we do a good job.

Then the reason that only seniors have been allowed in the library during lunch periods is that there have been too many people?

It’s a crowding issue, this year the library was being used as an overflow for the cafeteria, and it was discovered that we didn’t need to do that, so now we’re treating it more as a senior privilege. We’re still full.

So you said earlier that the library hours are ending earlier after school, they’ve been ending at three now, and you said that those would extend soon. Was the reason it was closing early just that there wasn’t enough staff?

Yeah, we’re short-staffed. We’re down one staff member, and as I said, we are expecting a new person [Ms. Barry]  in here Monday [Oct 31] and probably starting later that week, the library hours will be extended…It’s not ideal, I don’t like it. Let’s be clear about that, I’m not closing it because I want to keep kids out, I’m closing it because I can’t staff it. And as soon as we’re able to put someone here after school we’re gonna stay open later. I recognize that it’s an important place, as you were saying, for athletes, student-athletes to come before practice, but also we have lots of other kids who are in here, who are just waiting for a ride or actually just want to be here to do whatever they need to do, so I’m not happy about it. It hasn’t been that way in the past and it won’t be that way going forward. 

Okay, and finally, if the library isn’t available for people to stay after school, for sporting events or other extracurriculars, where would you recommend they study?

That’s an excellent question. I really don’t know, because again, it has to be a supervised space which is why I think students who aren’t able to be in here when we’re closed have to stay in public areas…And so, I can’t answer that question, that’d be an excellent question to ask an administrator: where can we go? But they’re also aware that, you know, we’re short on staff. It’s really hard to hire people in 2022, there just aren’t enough people to fill these jobs, and we have tried since, you know, Mrs. Neiland left… And since then we’ve been struggling to find somebody. I mean, we have to monitor teenage kids, which is great, I like to do it, that’s why I’m here. But it’s not everybody’s thing, you know? Not everybody can do that, so it’s really difficult to find someone.

Okay, thank you!

Yeah, so if you have any questions in addition to that, let me know.

This interview was conducted in late October, and since then, the new library assistant, Ms. Barry, has begun work at the library. This change allows the library to stay open until 3:30 in the afternoon, although overcrowding still remains an issue during some lunches and study halls.