Sam Burr’s commentary about library hours (“Snell snoozes as students seek study,” Jan. 25) included key information that was erroneous. As Dean of Libraries for Northeastern University and as the representative of the Student Government Association (SGA), we would like to set the record straight.

Contrary to what Mr. Burr claimed, Northeastern University Libraries’ hours are very much aligned with our neighboring institutions. In fact, like us, the main library at Boston University is regularly open until midnight and Tufts Library closes at 1 a.m. The Reading Room at Tufts Library is open until 3 a.m., while Northeastern’s Snell Library Cyber Cafe is open 24 hours a day. Mr. Burr cited Boston University’s “750 Commonwealth Library” as being open until 2 a.m. In fact, there is no library at 750 Commonwealth, but rather a classroom building that has extended hours for study groups.

The library is sincerely appreciative and is responsive to feedback about the library’s many services, programs and collections. As one of many examples, the library knew how important it was to students, faculty and staff to provide electronic access to journals. Over the past several years, the university libraries have made remarkable strides in this area and now offer over 25,000 licensed electronic journals to the Northeastern community.

The library has listened to student concerns on the issue of late-night study space. Over the past year and a half, the SGA and the library have met on this very issue. We worked together to come up with a feasible way to provide extended-hour study space during critical times around exam periods (usage statistics have shown there has been very little demand at other times).

Student representatives played an important role in making scheduling recommendations for this extended hour coverage. With special funds from the Provost’s Office, the library was able to offer six weeks of extended study hours until 2 a.m. during midterms and final exams last spring and again this past fall. The library is sympathetic to student concerns for securing a more permanent, comfortable and quiet late-night study space and is working with SGA and other offices to help assess and resolve this issue.

– Edward A. Warro is the Dean of University Libraries and Michael T. DeRamo is the Student Government Association’s Vice President for Academic Affairs.