A new print lab will open in the Music Library this Spring Quarter, the Collaborate Student Support Center announced Wednesday.
According to Collaborate staff, the layout of this “PrintSpot” will be similar to the one in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building (HSSB), with 13 computers and two printers.
Alx Sanchez, Collaborate student services manager, said they had been looking for a space for a new printing location for close to four years to make for shorter lines at other print locations.
According to Meridian Tran, a principal consultant at Collaborate, they chose the Music Library in part because of its “central location” near the UCen and Storke Tower.
Sanchez said other spaces were open but were either reserved for other purposes or too expensive, some spaces costing as much as several thousand dollars for a door reader (a device that unlocks doors by scanning access cards).
“We’ve seen that a lot of people like the services we provide,” said Tran. “They wanted to expand the access to computers and printers around campus.”
This lab is also to be the only one open during the weekend; it will be open 2-10 p.m. on Sundays, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday to Friday.
Tran said these “unusual hours” are because the lab is physically located inside the building instead of having separate access like the other printing locations. The lab will be working around the Music Library’s schedule.
Sanchez said it was too “cost prohibitive” to open other labs during the weekend, especially since historically labs have not drawn many people during weekends.
Funding for the labs comes from the technology fee charged to students enrolled in the College of Letters & Science. The college charges students $2.50 per unit, with a maximum of $37.50 per quarter. This helps to fund not only the labs but also GauchoSpace and campus WiFi.
Spending for the new PrintSpot will be minimal, Sanchez said, since it is using fees students are already paying.
