UC Berkeley administration responds to library action

The following email was sent by Harry Le Grand, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, to UC Berkeley students on Wednesday afternoon:

Dear Students,

I am very pleased to announce that library hours across the UC Berkeley campus will be returning to the spring 2009 schedule, the standard schedule that existed before budget cuts forced us to reduce weekend hours at most libraries within the campus's library system.

This decision was made in consultation with Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer, who secured funding for the expanded service hours through gifts from parents of UC Berkeley students.

Recent events and concerns raised by students, faculty and staff served as important reminders to all of us that libraries are a critical resource for students and a vital part of this university. I am grateful to the donors, the Chancellor and Provost, for their efforts.

With funding secured, library managers will now begin hiring and training student workers to staff the libraries during the expanded hours. We will begin by expanding the hours of at least one branch library this weekend and will continue with a phased approach of expanding library hours until we are operating under the spring 2009 schedule. This return to the standard schedule will occur no later than mid-November.

In the interim, please be aware that many of our existing library facilities are not being used at capacity and provide abundant study space through the week and weekend. This includes more than 1,000 seats available in Moffitt library and the Gardner Stacks. You may recall that, last week, a generous donor provided funds to allow students 24-hour access to those facilities during finals. Details on that gift and the finals schedule are available under the News and Events section of the library home page: http://lib.berkeley.edu/

Current information on hours of operation for all libraries in our system is always available at: http://ucblibrary3.berkeley.edu:8080/newhours/LH/

Expanding the hours of our libraries requires not only generous support but also the dedicated work of library managers and other staff who, working under difficult conditions, have remained dedicated to doing all that they can to serve the faculty, students and staff of this community. I'd like to extend my thanks to them and the entire campus community.

Sincerely,

Tom Leonard
University Librarian

The library action scheduled for Friday is still on.