Stay Tuned for Updates....

I thought it might be fun to live blog the UP ALL NIGHT event tonight, tracking the activity in the library, the degree of sleepiness, the degree of bloodshot-edness in my eyes, the amount of caffeine required, etc. So....

10:34 am, Monday: Going home at noon today to try and sleep before the late night shift. The last time I was up all night involved some friends and a few bottles of wine. I seem to recall a moment when I tried to recreate the Napoleon Dynamite dance. I don't think that will be the formula for this evening...

10:45 pm, Monday: There are 284 students in the building right now and reports are that it has been really, really busy tonight and that the study break food was a big success. All quiet on the third floor, as it should be, with one poor soul sitting on the back steps trying to study. I plan to stroll through the reference area trolling for questions now and then and to circulate through the building now and then to stay awake. I feel fine now, if a little confused... is it time for breakfast? I slept a little here and there today, but nothing solid.

12:25 am, Tuesday: The free coffee was a big hit, except we ran out of creamer and sugar really fast. There were also some inquiries about cookies and other free food... and some students seem to have packed a lunch. A good question raised by one student: If we wake up early and want to come down and study, why can't we come in? Why are the doors locked at 2:00 am? I know it is for security purposes, but the request seems reasonable. Paris Hilton says, "Nothing good ever happens after 2:00 am," but when does late night end and early morning, get the worm begin? That was after her DUI arrest, by the way. Smart girl, that Paris.

12:45 am, Tuesday: 245 students in the library. Stair guy is gone from the third floor. Chair guy has replaced him, sound asleep. I saw two students who brought blankets, so any hopes of closing early are pretty much dashed.

2:45 am, Tuesday: 91 students in the library. A lot of people headed out around 2:00 am. I had some more discussions about the "you can't come back in" business and am having trouble rationalizing this junior high dance rule. I have decided to open the library back up at 5:00 am, let the circulation students use their discretion about letting people in after 2:00 am (one guy forgot something at his apartment and rushed out to get it,) and let people charge things out if they need to. Anarchy rules! Chair guy is gone, only to be replaced by a different sleeping chair guy. One of the IMC students, Steve Leathers, told me that his old school used to keep the dining hall open all night during finals. You could reserve a table for a class study group and you paid $5.00 to eat all night. This sounds cool to me; too bad we don't have reservable study rooms. Advice to other librarians Up All Night... don't forget to bring change for the vending machine. Also, free coffee with no cream or sugar only wired everyone up and it got really loud for a while. I have been telling people to be quiet (with moderate success) out of consideration for others who are studying and the third floor remains a haven of silence... a veritable fortress of solitude.

4:15 am, Tuesday: 31 students left in the building. I've developed the far-away, zoned out stare of someone who needs some sleep and the bags under my eyes might better be classified as portmanteaus at this point. Sleeping chair guy is still sleeping... way to study, dude. Now I am wondering what happens when the custodians come in. I know they usually vacuum early in the morning before we open... but what will that do to the students still trying to study? Maybe at that point, we will be down to a very few. I can't wait to go home and go to bed.

5:00 am, Tuesday: 20 students. Now I am starving and thinking of rummaging through my colleagues' offices to look for hidden caches of chocolate. Sleeping guy awakes! Here are some Up All Night quotes to compensate for citing Paris Hilton earlier:
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Eudora Welty
George Bernard Shaw
Homer
Lord Byron

This is like one of those on-air drunken impairment experiments... or at least a definite case of sleep-deprived blog babble.

6:00 am, Tuesday: 19 students, 5 sound asleep. I now have a second wind and am eating popcorn for breakfast!

FINAL UPDATE: I hit the wall about 6:30 am and almost fell asleep over the book I was reading. I was pretty incoherent by the time the regular staff arrived. I also forgot to take a dinner break, where I might have caught a quick nap and I should have gone outside for some fresh air to wake myself up a bit. The sunrise over campus was glorious as I left! I fortunately did not have far to go to get home and slept like the dead all morning.