Night owls soon will have a new and, administrators say, improved place to study.

Under a recently approved plan, the library’s Grand Corridor and the breezeway between the Old Library and Schofield Hall will be furnished with tables, chairs and wireless Internet access as it is converted into a 24-hour study space, said Steve Horner, director of Facilities Planning and Management.

The Old Library’s general access computer lab also will be open 24 hours a day.

“It will be much nicer, more convenient, safer, and probably will save money too,” said Andrew Phillips, interim associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.

The area will be available in two to three weeks, Phillips said. The lab, OL 1108, currently closes at midnight Sunday through Thursday and at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Student Senate unanimously endorsed a resolution Dec. 9 supporting the creation of a 24-hour study space in the Old Library. The resolution stated the study space in Schneider is inadequate and has not been used effectively.

The move is part of a larger campus renovation plan. Schneider 111, a general access lab open to students 24 hours a day, and Schneider 107, a 24-hour study room, will be closed and upgraded with new technology.

The rooms will be converted to Level 3 classrooms, which include a centrally controlled console with three or more pieces of technology, Horner said.

The renovations, funded through the state capital budget, are part of the university’s campus-wide plan to modernize classrooms.

Level 1 classrooms include a blackboard and overhead projector, Horner said, and Level 2 classrooms include two pieces of technology, such as a computer and a video data projector. Level 4 classrooms are equipped for distance education.

Phillips said the labs will not be closed until the Old Library’s 24-hour study space becomes available.

“There will always be one lab that’s available for people to go and work whenever they want,” Phillips said. “That’s the key issue here.”

Horner emphasized the same point.

“The timing is such that students would not be without a 24-hour study space,” he said.

Once remodeled, Schneider 107 and Schneider 111 will be general assignment classrooms, which means they will not necessarily be used only by business students, Horner said.

“It’s far more likely that classes from the College of Arts and Sciences would be there,” he said.

“There isn’t a single reduction of a computer,” he added, because the computers from Schneider 111 will be moved to the library’s second floor.

With 1,400 class sections in 135 classrooms, “we no longer have a surplus of rooms,” Horner said. “Right now we really need a room the location and size that Schneider 111 would provide.”

Schneider 107 is “probably everybody’s least favorite room on campus to teach in” because of its size and lack of technology, Phillips said.

“What we’re doing is upgrading a 19th century classroom to a 21st century classroom,” he said. “It’s a better environment for teaching and for learning.”