UC Santa Cruz Students Protest Library Budget Cuts

Three-day study-in prompts mediation

April Boland -- Library Journal, 5/19/2010

• Police called in when students remained in library until midnight
• Library staff, caught in the middle, say protests create a “hardship"
• Facilitated dialogue helps end student action

More than 100 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) students protested ongoing and projected library budget cuts (totaling about 10%) with a three-day "study-in" last week at the Science and Engineering Library.

The protest began Monday, May 10, when students occupied the library until midnight in violation of the building’s 10:30 p.m. closing time. The library was forced to close early at 4:30 p.m. May 11, leading protesters to study right outside of the building.