I think that all three solutions have merit, but some are more practical than others. For starters, closing a branch library should be considered if closing a lesser-used branch would allow the relocation of resources and funds toward the larger, more utilized libraries such as D.H. Hill and Hunt. It’s true that closing a branch library would be inconvenient, as one article mentioned, causing a 15-minute walk or bus ride to either of the two libraries, but in my opinion, the credibility and the quality of resources across the libraries is worth the inconvenience of a 15-minute commute. The library has so many other resources online, especially the scientific journals and e-resources, that the commute could be considered worth the cut, in favor of what is best for the majority of students.
It’s also important to note that each branch has a purpose and allows for more specialized book access. For that reason, it is a good idea to look at cutting hours and, in my opinion, that is what should be done.
The two mentioned are both considerable, but to me, closing the libraries on Saturdays would do more harm than good. Saturdays are, for the most part, when students have open schedules to work on their classwork and to shut the libraries down on the one day that’s not the day before or the day of a class would be a mistake. That leaves the option of reducing the 2015 hours of one of the two major libraries. I would suggest reducing the hours at both.
To have the libraries open 24 hours, four days a week, is expensive and could easily be cut. Though admittedly I have not been in either of the libraries after midnight, I cannot imagine they are full of students. I would find the Saturday and Sunday opening times too late, as well as the Friday and Saturday closing times to be too early. I think a reasonable closing time would be anywhere from 11:30 to midnight. In regards to an opening time, I would think that anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour before the first classes start on main campus to give students time to go to the libraries and check out the resources they may need for a class such as calculators. Using the 2014 exam schedule as a source of class times, with the earliest class starting at 8:05 a.m. and the latest class ending at 10:15 p.m., the library hours could easily be shortened without cutting heavily into students’ time in it. An opening time of anywhere from 5 to 6 a.m. and a closing time of 11:30 p.m. to midnight would be appropriate based on what I would assume to be peak hours. If it’s clear that the library becomes very busy at 4 or 5 a.m., or 1 or 2 a.m., then it would be reasonable to move around to accommodate.
So, I think all three have merits. Closing the libraries on Saturdays would impact the most people and would, in my opinion, be harmful to students who use that valuable time to finish assignments. Changing hours of the main libraries would be easy, and presumably impact a relatively small number of students. Closing a branch would only directly affect those who use the library branch daily and so it would presumably, depending on how many people are in the library past midnight and before 6 a.m. or so, impact the fewest number of students and those who are impacted would only be inconvenienced. So while it’s difficult to say a branch isn’t as important as others, or that the library shouldn’t be open at any time that students may need it, we have limited resources and need to use them in the interest of as many students and faculty as we can. For that reason, I think cutting out the midnight to early morning hours of the library would be the best start, but if changing hours is not enough, the next consideration should be to close a branch. Saturday hours should be left untouched.