OUR VIEW: Library staff doing well with resources

Some students feel like they can’t find the things they need for their classes in the library, the hours are too short on weekends, the hours are too short on weekdays, they don’t have access to the resources they need for their major and there’s nobody to help them.

USU’s Merrill-Cazier Library has faced significant funding cuts for the past seven years, and we just want to say, kudos to them for dealing with that so well.

This year alone, the library has to decide how to make do with $400,000 less than they had last year. Not wanting to compromise students’ and faculty’s access to valuable research materials, they are trying to cut operating costs while maintaining the materials collection.

Unless students want to have fewer books and access to fewer online journals, the library can’t expand hours or staff. The librarians have made an admirable effort to give students and faculties everything they can.

Library hours, computers, space, books and staff are expensive, and the library directors are balancing their budget with the needs of the majority of students.

We have a beautiful new library with more space and better technology than before. It’s easier to find things and a far better place to study than most students have access to.

It’s easy to complain about what you find wrong, but there is a lot that the library is doing right.

The library was helped a lot by tier two tuition increases, but unless students want to pay skyrocketing tuition, there are no easy answers to the library funding problem.

So next time you wish the library was open after 6 p.m. on Saturday or wonder where a librarian is when you have a question, remember the library is doing the best it can with the money it is given.