When I was a freshman, there was a rumor floating around that the W. E. B. Du Bois Library would stay open 24/7 during finals week. Since my roommate would go to bed around 9 p.m. and often got distracted by my desk decorations, I was relieved. I thought that during finals I would have a productive space to turn to when I was having trouble focusing. Instead, I found myself kicked to the curb at midnight as the library closed, stressed, chilly, and most of all, angry.

I gave the library the benefit of the doubt as the pandemic continued to affect various establishments in spite of the widespread implementation of the vaccine. However, it has been three years since then, and the library has not expanded their hours but has cut them back further. Now, Du Bois starts ringing its maddening bells at 10 p.m. going all the way to 11 p.m.. The Science and Engineering Library (SEL) is not any better, closing its doors at 10 p.m. most days, 5 p.m. on Fridays and are closed completely on Saturday. Work doesn’t go away on the weekend; if anything, the weekend is a time to catch up and get ahead on work. So why are study space hours even more limited during these times?

While workers deserve some time off on the weekend, students still have pressing assignments due and completing them at their dorm isn’t always an option. Some students, like myself, need to have a separate study space in order to get work done. Everyone works differently, and for some that may mean shutting themselves in a room, but for others, a public setting is required in order to study. Aside from work habits, some students are subject to bad roommates and even worse neighbors. Finals and quiet hours do nothing to prevent a party above you practically shaking the walls with their music, or your roommate from deciding they need to get some practice for their recital in your room instead of the Fine Arts Center. Having a space for students to work outside their living space is essential.

Due to what I charitably assume to be the lack of funding that the libraries receive, they have purposely been understaffing themselves for the past few years. At the end of 2022, my friend applied to work at the SEL. As they went through the application process it became clearer and clearer that the library had no intention of hiring them, and upon consulting others that applied, it seemed that they were not alone in this observation. The library needed more workers, yet no one was being hired.

Blame can’t be placed on the libraries though: understaffing and cutting hours is a reflection of poor funding rather than selfish workers. No one should be forced to keep a library open on overtime for a bunch of caffeine junkies. Surely, the University of Massachusetts can move around a little money from overpriced studio apartments to staff their libraries a few hours longer during the week.

This is, however, merely a suggestion based on my own observations. Besides, a lot can change over a year. Regardless, it’s important to recognize that libraries are important spaces that need more funding. Du Bois and the SEL are more than just a study space for those seeking refuge and efficiency; these places provide essential services and resources. Libraries offer everything from printing and sound rooms to something as simple as a snack at times. These resources and spaces remain open long after other campus buildings close. To watch the library become a shell of what it used to be is disheartening, as I know it could once again become a guaranteed shelter for students who require a space to study. The library needs to be open more hours to provide students with such a space, but it won’t come without a greater appreciation of these settings and the people who run them.