Director and Assistant Director of Library Information Services, Andrew White and Liz King, stood before the Student Senate last Monday and presented the extent of their roles. Firstly, White and King provided an overview of the plethora of academic resources offered by the library, including subscriptions to scientific journals, AI tools for research, and an interactive map of the library with integrated study room reservations.
Yet, the main reason the library stood before the Senate was to field questions about the recent changes in their hours of operation. A major institutional change was the reallocation of jurisdiction of the library from under the Division of the Chief Information Officer to the Office of the Provost during the summer. When asked about how the change will affect the department, King and White said the reallocation will place greater emphasis on the Office of Student Success and its policies. When pursued for a statement about recent change, Provost Rebecca Doerge affirmed that the library’s placement “aligns with its central role in teaching, learning, and research” and they “recognize its importance as a place for students to study and connect.”
When asked about the accessibility of five study rooms on the first floor of the library, White and King revealed the space was reassigned to accommodate staff offices and a testing center for the Access and Neurodiverse Student Success Center, and that more study rooms were added to offset the loss. The Senate was mainly concerned about the reduction in library hours. White and King affirmed that the reduction was purely due to staffing constraints, citing rising minimum wage and budget stagnation as key factors in their inability to maintain hours past 10 pm. In particular, White reported that his department’s budget has not increased in almost 10 years. He remarked that the library's staff has decreased from 40 members to 15, as was approved by Doerge in the summer. When The Polytechnic asked for insight into the recent changes, Doerge responded that “summer hours were approved in consultation with library leadership and Student Life, considering historical library use, staffing, and summer programming.”
In the past, the library was able to operate until approximately 12 am due to a contract with an outside security company that would monitor the library during later hours to minimize staffing. The contract broke down after the COVID-19 pandemic, with the department footing the bill for the needed increase in staff through the pandemic, causing a large fiscal shortfall. The rising minimum wage, which has increased by approximately 65 percent in most of the state of New York over the past 10 years, and the rising cost of scientific journals, reportedly jumping from one to two percent of the library’s budget to approximately six to seven percent, resulted in the previous hours being unfinanceable. In regard to future changes, White and King remarked that these hours will likely not revert unless the library’s budget increases. They cannot increase student staff during later hours either, due to liability reasons where professional staff are accountable if and when emergency situations arise. When questioned about the administration's reasoning for the budget stagnation, White cited a national trend of budget cuts and staff layoffs to university libraries.
These reductions are part of a national trend affecting many university libraries. According to Dartmouth College’s newspaper, The Dartmouth, its library system will face cuts of over one million dollars over the next two fiscal years, according to a report in March 2026. Additionally, Duke University cut four million dollars in spending and 40 staff positions from its libraries in September 2025. The 2025 US Library Survey had responses from 483 library deans and directors; 81 percent cited financial concerns and 57 percent cited a lack of staffing as major constraints in their institution. The reduction of the library’s role and budget is part of a nationwide epidemic, encouraging debate about libraries’ purpose in modern, technologically-fueled higher education.
Per a communique received by The Poly on Monday, September 29, 2026 from Academic Affairs Committee Chair Zach Nobles ’27, “the library division staff inferred that complaints about the building hours were more related to students wanting a quiet space to study rather than anything about Folsom specifically, and feedback that student government has solicited largely validates that. The Academic Affairs Committee will be reaching out to admin that oversee RPI facilities in an effort to find more study spaces for students.” He added that the AAC meets every Wednesday at 4:00 pm in the Student Government Suite. They can be contacted here.
This Senate meeting took place on Monday, September 21, 2026. The Senate meets every Monday at 7 pm in the Shelnutt Gallery.
