Cell phones rang out and e-mail messages popped up across campus around 8 p.m. Monday, alerting the university community of a second day of cancelled classes, the result of a storm system on track to break snowfall records for the District.

Voices picked up in the quiet spaces of Lauinger Library as word spread from student to student. A steady exodus began as students learned that their papers and problem sets could wait another day.

“All the rules of the library were abolished,” said Julia Von Turk (SFS ’13), who was studying on the library’s fourth floor when the e-mail arrived in her inbox.

The announcement comes as the National Weather Service is predicting up to 20 inches of snowfall this afternoon. The storm is the second in a week, when a storm from Friday to Saturday dumped 18 inches on Ronald Reagan National Airport, according to the Associated Press.

onday was the third straight day the university bookstore was closed, and Corp locations began to show signs of distress. At Uncommon Grounds in the Leavey Center, bagel and milk deliveries were suspended Monday morning, as vendors were unable to complete early morning deliveries, according to Corp CEO Brad Glasser (COL ’11). At press time, the bookstore’s main hotline did not reveal if the operating hours would be modified today.

At Vital Vittles, prepared food deliveries have continued, but items like bread and eggs were purchased the moment they hit the shelves on Friday. Basic ingredients and home-cooking amenities quickly sold as well, according to Glasser.

Healy Lawn was eerily quiet at 10:30 Monday night, as a steady stream of students trickled from Lauinger Library. Downed tree limbs dotted Copley Lawn and White-Gravenor patio, lingering symbols of the strength of the weekend’s storm.

In an e-mail to the university community on Monday evening, University Provost James O’Donnell said that road conditions were still too hazardous and public transportation options too scarce to ensure safe commutes for students, faculty and staff.

“Our bias is always in favor of staying open and staying active, but we also feel strongly the responsibility to be prudent and to encourage all members of the community to put their health and safety and that of their families first,” he said in the e-mail.

While faculty members are permitted to hold classes today if they wish, they may not penalize students who cannot attend, he said. O’Donnell called on students and faculty to embrace technology like Blackboard to continue the semester’s progress and noted that the university’s central services will continue to operate in spite of other cancellations.

“Lauinger Library, that beacon of our commitment to learning and inquiry, has remained and will remain open and welcoming,” he said in the e-mail.

O’Donovan Hall will continue operating on a weekend schedule according to Sarah Guixens, director of catering. Late Night and Grab ‘n’ Go are suspended through Tuesday, with weekend operating hours in effect.

As of Monday night. only two more inches need to fall on the District for this year to be the second snowiest in history, and 9.5 more would set a new record for annual snowfall, according to The Washington Post.”