McKeldin Library may end its late-night study service to pay for pricier journal subscriptions, university officials said.
Although university officials are quick to point out that ending late-night study is just one option the university is considering to pay for rapidly rising journal subscription costs, students who worked the late-night shift were told they should find other jobs in an e-mail last month.
Eight students worked regularly at the library during late-night study, which ran from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m.
“Because of uncertainty of whether or not we will continue to have a late-night study service in the Libraries, I encourage you to seek employment elsewhere. Thank you very much for working with us here in the Library,” read the e-mail from Cindy Todd, coordinator for information and research services in the library’s public services division, provided to The Diamondback by a library employee.
“I think late-night is being reviewed, along with all of the operations of the library,” said interim associate provost Mahlon Straszheim. “How can the library get more out of its resources with the higher prices of the journals? That’s the fundamental question.”
“Let me emphasize that no final decision has been made,” said Interim Dean of Libraries Desider Vikor.
But neither could explain the e-mail sent to the late-night employees. Vikor and Straszheim both said they did not know there was such an email. Todd, who sent the message, referred questions to Public Services Director Tanner Wray, who referred questions to Vikor.
Sherdina Randolph, an African-American studies major who graduated in May and had worked McKeldin’s late-night shift for two semesters, said in an e-mail she was “shocked” by Todd’s email.
“I couldn’t believe they were discontinuing this service for those students who were dedicated to their studies,” she said. It would be a “disservice to the college,” she continued.
The cuts may be necessary to help pay for the cost of journal subscriptions and other materials, which have been rapidly rising. Last fall, the University Library Council reported to the University Senate that library traffic was up 72 percent since 1998, but funding had not kept up with inflation prices. The report said the cost of library materials had risen 7.5 to 10 percent since 2002, resulting in a “resource crisis.”
Junior journalism major Elizabeth Abraham, who had worked at McKeldin late-night for two semesters, said while she couldn’t speak to the economics of keeping the service open, it was important to the students she got used to regularly seeing there.
“I’m confident that late night study was the most optimal studying atmosphere for many of the familiar faces I saw while working,” she said in an e-mail.
University officials said they did not know exactly how much is spent on late-night study at this point, saying library operations are still under review. Employees said there are typically four library staff members in the building during the nine-hour period, two of whom are students making approximately $7 an hour.
Some students also criticized secrecy they said surrounded the library evaluations, including sophomore government and politics major Jon Berger. Berger is a member of the group Students for a Democratic Society, which is opposing the end of late-night study.
“The fact that the students didn’t find out about this through them trying to tell the students about it – we found out about this in sort of a back door way – they were not seeking student input all along,” Berger said. “They went far enough along in the process to say they were firing employees before we heard about it.”
Senior English and history major Anne Price, who had worked late-night at McKeldin, said the library’s Desk Supervisor Valerie Jean-Turner, who runs late-night study, told her that library staff were aware of the potential elimination of the service and were instructed to keep quiet about it. Jean-Turner did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
News has since spread by word of mouth and on Facebook. Student Government Association President Jonathan Sachs said students have been contacting him, asking “Could this really be happening?”
“There was a feeling of genuine surprise among many people in the community,” Sachs said. He supports keeping late-night study, which he described as both a good study environment and an escape from noisy dorms.
Encouraged in part by a message the Facebook group “Save McKeldin Library’s Late Night Study,” which had 655 members as of press time, students have bombarded university officials with e-mails supporting the service.
Officials have organized a meeting with students in response to the outcry that Straszheim said “concerned” Provost Nariman Farvardin, who has the final say on the libraries. Farvardin was out of the office and not available for comment.
The meeting between students and university officials is scheduled for today at 6 p.m. in 6137 McKeldin.
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