As students who frequent the Physical Sciences Library, we would like to express our disapproval of the University's decision to close this important campus library. The PSL may not boast the foot traffic of Olin, Mann or Uris library, but for a solid core of students, the PSL is a convenient location for quiet study and group collaboration. Clark Hall, Baker Labs and Rockefeller Hall represent an island science complex isolated from the campus at large by hills, parking lots, and a massive construction site. The PSL remains our only large, comfortable, quiet study environment for the students who practically live in this complex. We understand the cuts need to come from somewhere, but we see this decision as a direct assault on the undergraduate population of the physical sciences. Researchers, faculty, and students will find the diffusion of the libraries book collection more than just a minor inconvenience, as it houses an exclusive collection of course reserves and references that the physical sciences population finds invaluable. Eliminating public computers and a primary quiet study space from the complex will have major negative consequences for the undergraduates. We are serious students grateful for the resources we've been afforded, but this decision has left us wondering if the university views our presence on campus merely as a revenue stream for research and institutional aggrandizement. The lack of communication throughout the university regarding this closure also has us very concerned. No one, including students working at the PSL, was made aware of this decision until a Sun reporter came through last night asking for our personal reactions. Most of us were still unaware of this decision until we glanced at the Sun today. No explanation of the costs involved was given to us, nor was there any attempt to explain why this particular library branch was so vulnerable to cuts. What a terrible way to go about making these decisions. In the future, we would appreciate a voice in these decisions that directly affect us. We are well aware of the financial constraints of the University, but back-door deals and hushed decision making is not the sort of conduct we expect from a world class research institution.

Sponsor

Links