University of Maryland’s Reading Day won’t be on a weekend for the next 6 years

As of this semester, Reading Day will fall on a weekday through spring 2022, according to the Office of the Provost website.

Reading Day, an extra class-free day for students to prepare for their final exams, has fallen on the Saturday before final exam week for the past three fall semesters. From now until 2021, the fall semester reading day will fall on a Tuesday, giving students an additional day and the weekend prior to exams to study.

This change is coincidental, said Ann Smith, office of undergraduate studies assistant dean and student ombudswoman. However, many students, like sophomore fire protection engineering major Alicea Fitzpatrick, rely on extra study days to earn good grades on final exams.

“I think a Reading Day during the week is crucial to students succeeding during their finals,” she said. “It gives students more time to study and a day to relax before finals.”

Reading Day is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 13 this semester, which is the day between the last day of classes and the first day of final exams.

Now that Reading Day falls on a weekday, sophomore aerospace engineering major Samantha Howard said she is “glad that we’re going to have an actual weekday off.”

“The weekdays are when we’d usually have tests and homework,” Howard said. “The weekend is supposed to be our days off.”

Not every student appreciates the change, though, as sophomore Karley Copperthite said she favored having Reading Day fall on a weekend.

“I preferred having a weekend as a Reading Day instead of a weekday because then you had two days to study instead of one,” the fire protection engineering major said. “Usually STEM exams are the first ones, so mine were right away. I only had one day to prepare after classes.”