After a series of negotiations and funding compromises, Marston Science Library will transition from its 24/7 model to a 24/5 model starting Sept. 9.
The library will close its doors from 8 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday.
After 2023 funding from the provost’s office began to dwindle, UF Student Government, university administration and Marston officials met to discuss the library’s fate, which was announced Aug. 28.
“Students wanted [Marston] open, but, on the other hand, it was quite expensive to do that,” said former UF Provost Scott Angle, whose term ended Sept. 5. “The goal was to try to minimize the cost of it while maximizing student use opportunity.”
Data analysis that followed the rise and fall of library activity throughout the week guided the model change. A 2023 Marston report showed the most frequent use of the library was from Sunday night to Wednesday morning.
“How many people were in the library at three o’clock on a Saturday night? The answer was not many,” Angle said. “But that number started to pick up Sunday night.”
Angle described the process of deciding on a new model as a “balancing act.” While he said he understood that some students use Marston during the late and early hours of the day, he did not feel “we can justify that with taxpayers.”
A 24/5 Marston schedule costs $188,000 to maintain through the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters. Marston funding is reviewed on an annual basis, leaving the possibility for the return of 24/7 Marston.
Pat Reakes, the Senior Associate Dean for the Smathers Libraries, said the 24/5 model is “better than nothing,” despite student dissatisfaction. He did, however, disagree with the decision’s criteria of following what the data shows.
“People want [24/7 Marston],” Reakes said. “It’s never going to be used super heavily at certain times of the night — that’s the bottom line — but I’ve always thought it should be a just-in-case thing.”
Although Reakes said the change probably won’t make a huge difference, he would prefer for Marston’s funding and operational hours to be consistent rather than be subject to yearly changes. This way, he added, employment numbers don’t have to fluctuate as much each semester.
Student Sen. Nathaniel Pelton (Change-Off Campus) sees the change as a major loss for students.
“It’s my firm belief that on [Friday and Saturday], students will still need to use 24/7 Marston,” he said.
Pelton proposed legislation to the SG executive branch seeking to use Senate reserve funds, which function similarly to a savings account, to fund Marston 24/7. But he received no response on those proposals, he said, which he attributed to tension between the Vision and Change caucuses.
Ultimately, Pelton described the decision to make Marston 24/5 as “a slap in the face for our student body.”
Kaylee Lamb, a 29-year-old UF English doctoral student, said visiting the library early on the weekends would be especially helpful given that Saturdays and Sundays are the days she doesn’t have to teach. Parking restrictions also lift for certain UF lots during the night and on the weekends, which makes it easier to get there, she said.
She has also heard her students say they struggle to focus on work at their dorms, apartments or houses. She said UF should be able to provide students with 24/7 facilities.
“With how much UF toots its own horn about ‘we have great academics,’ back it up then with having study spaces open for students,” Lamb said.
Students working during the week or caring for families may be limited to studying on Friday and Saturday nights, she said. It is also important to consider the cost students, including those who frequent the library in the early morning, pay in tuition, Lamb added.
“Those 20 or so students just so happen to be paying potentially $30,000 a year,” she said. “We’re the ones paying for it. We are the ones here every day. This is our community.”
Contact Avery Parker at aparker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @AveryParke98398.
Avery Parker is a third-year English and History major covering university affairs for The Alligator. Outside of reporting, Avery spends his time doting on his cats, reading, and listening to music by the Manwolves.
