Library Owl

I was shocked when I learnt that I could only borrow books from UBC library for 2 weeks. Being a graduate student at NTU for years, I was used to be able to borrow books for 2 months, and renew books about once per 2 months. So, I read through the library's circulation rules, but couldn't figure out why I couldn't borrow books like other graduate students at UBC. Normally, graduate students at UBC could borrow books for 2 months as well. Then, I went to the library counter and asked about it. The librarians(?) at the counter checked my student card, the library record, and declared to me that I was an unclassified student at UBC. I was shocked. It was hard to define whether I was a graduate student or unclassified student in my mind since I attend master level courses there. As a result, I would like to have as much privilige as a true graduate student at UBC since its a tiring job to renew one's records online every couple of weeks as an unclassified student. Furthermore, graduate students often borrow materials to read for their term papers. It's really bad for an unclassified student to take graduate courses while one could not have as much time to read what they borrow as normal graduate students.

Perhaps, I paid for what is worth since I paid tuition in Taiwan and it's way much cheaper than regular tuitions at UBC. But as the concerns of a graduate student, I would think that it's a bad deal for studying since I can't have as much time as others. It's a dilema for university libraries to write policies that can both protect their own students and satify the needs of visiting students. Maybe UBC is not the only case, NTU library might have similar policies as well, but it is something that would not be noticed if one has never had the chance to experience it on her own.