Over a thousand students at the University of Texas at Arlington have expressed their displeasure after the university shut down its overnight library hours.
Earlier this month, UTA announced that the new operating hours for its Central Library will be from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to midnight on weekends.
“The updated fall operating hours change reflects one part of our strategy to ensure that more of our library experts are available to users when they need them most and maximize the value we offer to our users,” said UTA Dean of Libraries John Wang in a statement to The Dallas Express.
“We did not take this lightly. We thoroughly analyzed post-pandemic library entry and usage data from the last three years to strategically adjust our fall hours,” he said.
Previously, students had access to the Central Library 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Many students have expressed their disappointment with the library’s new hours. On August 6, a petition titled “Keep UTA Library Open 24/7” was created on change.org. As of August 20, the petition had 1,688 signatures.
“As [a] student of The University of Texas at Arlington, it was extremely disappointing when the news came out that the UTA Central Library, as well as other locations, will now have a new schedule,” said UTA student Justin Pacheco, who created the petition.
“The UTA Central Library has always been a great environment for hundreds of thousands of students. It is one of our most valuable resources. A lot of student[s] have come out and said that having a library open 24/7 is one of the biggest reasons why they decided to call UTA home. On top of all of this, the college has not given us a single good or valid reason as to why make such a dramatic change,” he said.
Petition supporters, including current students and alumni, expressed similar sentiments in comments on the petition.
“I am an alumnus, and during my time at UTA having the Central Library open late at night helped me complete many projects. It helped me graduate!” wrote signatory James Byrne IV.
“The only place I can focus is the library. It’s not new that many students do all-nighters or study late into the night in the library. Why would they take away this resource that people utilize?” commented petition signer Hannah Mendoza.
“UTA library being open 24/7 is one of the major perks of coming to UTA, and it makes UTA stand out. Everybody needs it, don’t take it away from students. We pay for it,” wrote an anonymous signatory.
Wang cited a decrease in user traffic overnight as a reason for the hour change, stating, “We found that overnight users represent a significantly smaller portion of our overall user base.”
Data obtained by Fort Worth Report supports UTA’s claim that the Central Library sees the lowest number of visitors between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Specifically, in September 2022, 68 people swiped in at 4 a.m. At 5 a.m., 95 swiped in, and at 6 a.m., 358 people swiped in. The peak time of day was noon when 13,759 swiped into UTA’s Central Library.
Data from September 2023 showed that the lack of overnight visitors had become a trend. At 4 a.m., 63 people swiped into the Central Library, 134 swiped in at 5 a.m., and 442 swiped in at 6 a.m. Student usage continued to peak at noon, with 13,489 swipes.
According to Wang, UTA is exploring alternative sites on campus for overnight study and is considering extending library service hours during finals week. Additional library services, such as access to online journals, databases, and e-books, will all still be available 24/7 on UTA’s library website.
“We recognize the impact this change may have on some users,” said Wang. “We will continue to engage with our user communities to refine these hours while ensuring that we maximize our efforts to support our users and contribute to the University’s focus on student success.”