Customers who frequently use post office boxes say it's a small sacrifice but one they are willing to make.

"For the sake of improvement, inconveniences are worth it," said Grantley H. Lowe, who uses one of the post office boxes.

The changes will have no effect on the mail service in the Houses and the Harvard Yard Mail Center. David R. Barry, assistant manager of Harvard University Mail Services, said that the Harvard Square post office is "a separate entity" and has nothing to do with the mail that comes to the Houses and the mail center. Mail received by the College comes directly from the Central Square post office.

Although the Central Square post office is also being renovated, all modifications will be finished by Dec. 10 and will not significantly affect service, said Leonard J. Poirier, a representative of the post office. All of the Central post office, he said, is being renovated, "from cellar to top floor." This may make things " a little slower," he said, but not noticeably.