Save Our Libraries and Fight Austerity

Chancellor Carol Christ and the Office of the Chancellor

In the past few weeks, the University of California, Berkeley has made the decision to close both the Physics and Anthropology libraries, with even more closures to follow. These closures continue a long trend of austerity in the UC system, through which UC Berkeley has cut student services, increased fees, rent, and tuition, and enriched itself and its administrators. In just this past year, the UC Regents have opted to increase tuition indefinitely on all incoming freshman classes, UC Berkeley administrators have attempted to charge fees to students for basic and necessary software (i.e. bCourses, Zoom, Google Workspace, etc.), and the Disabled Students’ Program has remained understaffed and underfunded, leaving some of the campus’s most vulnerable students at greater risk in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, we, the students and workers of UC Berkeley, demand that the University begin to reverse this trend and become the public university that we know it can become, beginning with reopening and improving our libraries.


Our Demands Are:
1. The University of California, Berkeley acknowledge that libraries are an essential student service and foster them as sites of campus community crucial for academic success.
2. The University of California, Berkeley reopen the Physics and Anthropology libraries and halt all plans to close additional libraries.
3. The University of California, Berkeley extend all library hours until at least midnight on both weekdays and weekends.
4. The University of California, Berkeley hire additional librarians and qualified library workers to reduce the unfair workload placed on current staff.
5. The University of California, Berkeley improve Wi-Fi connections within all libraries.
6. The University of California, Berkeley restore and expand in-person and online library services available to students.
7. The University of California, Berkeley reject all proposals to charge additional fees for software currently provided without a fee or necessary for academic success.
8. The University of California, Berkeley coordinate with disabled students and the Disabled Students’ Program to eliminate disparities faced by disabled students in libraries.

On our campus, libraries are not only workplaces and essential student services, but also spaces that foster community. We, the students and workers of the University of California, Berkeley, stand united against austerity and are prepared to fight until we win our demands to save our libraries and create a truly public university.

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Cal YDSA

To: Chancellor Carol Christ and the Office of the Chancellor
From: [Your Name]

In the past few weeks, the University of California, Berkeley has made the decision to close both the Physics and Anthropology libraries, with even more closures to follow. These closures continue a long trend of austerity in the UC system, through which UC Berkeley has cut student services, increased fees, rent, and tuition, and enriched itself and its administrators. In just this past year, the UC Regents have opted to increase tuition indefinitely on all incoming freshman classes, UC Berkeley administrators have attempted to charge fees to students for basic and necessary software (i.e. bCourses, Zoom, Google Workspace, etc.), and the Disabled Students’ Program has remained understaffed and underfunded, leaving some of the campus’s most vulnerable students at greater risk in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, we, the students and workers of UC Berkeley, demand that the University begin to reverse this trend and become the public university that we know it can become, beginning with reopening and improving our libraries.

Our Demands Are:
1. The University of California, Berkeley acknowledge that libraries are an essential student service and foster them as sites of campus community crucial for academic success.
2. The University of California, Berkeley reopen the Physics and Anthropology libraries and halt all plans to close additional libraries.
3. The University of California, Berkeley extend all library hours until at least midnight on both weekdays and weekends.
4. The University of California, Berkeley hire additional librarians and qualified library workers to reduce the unfair workload placed on current staff.
5. The University of California, Berkeley improve Wi-Fi connections within all libraries.
6. The University of California, Berkeley restore and expand in-person and online library services available to students.
7. The University of California, Berkeley reject all proposals to charge additional fees for software currently provided without a fee or necessary for academic success.
8. The University of California, Berkeley coordinate with disabled students and the Disabled Students’ Program to eliminate disparities faced by disabled students in libraries.

On our campus, libraries are not only workplaces and essential student services, but also spaces that foster community. We, the students and workers of the University of California, Berkeley, stand united against austerity and are prepared to fight until we win our demands to save our libraries and create a truly public university.