It has come. Dead Week is upon us, Finals Week will soon be rearing its hideous face and students will endure endless study guides, testing center lines and late nights.

Those late nights may turn into more all-nighters for some with the new hours in Parks Library for Dead Week and Finals Week. The library will be open 24/7 for the last two weeks of the semester. It’s an idea that’s just being tested for now, to see how students receive the new opportunity for more time in the quiet study space.

Keeping the library open every hour of the day during Dead Week and Finals Week was a suggestion made by students.

It’s a move that provides students the opportunity to keep studying with a group in a study-friendly setting later into the night and will keep individuals from having to abruptly stop their studying while they’re in their 2 a.m. study groove. We’ve all been there. By the time you get done with classes, work, meetings, gym and dinner, it’s sometimes already late into the day. You head to the library and just as you’re starting to master the study guide, that little voice sounds telling you the library will be closing in about 10 minutes. No thanks.

The elongated hours also provide a new level of flexibility. Some people study better at different times of the day.

Studying in the library has proven to improve students’ grades. Research has shown that, “students in schools with good libraries learn more, get better grades,” according to a study by Scholastic. The same study cited 60 other studies that have “shown clear evidence of this connection between student achievement and … school libraries.”

Being in a five-floor, seven-tier building dedicated for studying opens up options of multiple study spots in one location. A New York Times article on study research said psychologists in one study found that “college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room.”

While the option of a cozy place to pull an all-nighter is tantalizing, be careful not to abuse the new opportunity.

Studying through the night is scientifically not healthy. A 2008 study by St. Lawrence University Associate Professor Pamela Thacher found that all-nighters can impair your reasoning and memory for up to four days.

We’re not going to “mom” you to participate in responsible study habits. You know what study techniques work best for you. The beauty of the library’s new hours for the next two weeks is that it truly is up to the students how long they take advantage of what the library offers.