Cost-Saving Measure May Reduce Library Hours

*By Nickolas Furr, Stephen Uhl, and Paulina Briseño

 On January 14, when students return to the Southwestern College campus for classes, they will find the library open 14 fewer hours than it is today. Due to brutal budget cuts and rampant state fiscal problems, the administration has been forced to cut the available hours for staff, and library personnel have been forced to close their doors earlier and keep them closed all weekend. As a result, frustration has begun to bloom in every campus group – students, classified employees, faculty members, administrators and the governing board. And now, frustration is beginning to blossom into full-blown anger.

But the anger is unfocused, with no one particular group for the others to be angry at.

In 2011, California community colleges suffered a $502 million cut to help staunch the loss of blood flowing from the state’s bank accounts. This past November, with another round of cuts looming – an additional $300 million statewide – voters passed Proposition 30, Governor Jerry Brown’s proposal to channel taxpayer money into funding schools and community colleges. This is expected to minimize the damage schools will take, but the fiscal ship can’t turn on a dime. It needs time to turn around. Until then, SWC will suffer another round of cuts, and the library remains a casualty of these cuts.

Humberto Peraza, SWC governing board vice president, said the damage could have been far worse, but it was still going to force changes.

“We went from a $12 million cut to a $6 million cut because of Prop 30, which has helped a lot,” he said. “But this is still significant. Almost everything we do, no matter what we do, a $6 million cut is going to directly impact students.”



Student Richard Riddle, 26, said the impact on hours would slice into the time he has to study.

“This will affect pretty badly right now,” he said. “I come to campus around 4 o’clock and study before going to class.”

Librarian Ron Vess said the library suffered when employees retired and their positions were not filled.

“A situation has been created that makes it impossible to operate the library without cutting hours we’re open,” he said. “One employee retired two years ago, and her position was not replaced. In three weeks, another will retire and she will not be replaced for at least six months. That leaves us with only one employee to do that job.”

Dr. Melinda Nish, SWC superintendent/president, explained the arrangement that would guarantee a savings to the district.

“The Governing Board approved a one-time bonus to be paid to any employee who qualified and who retired or resigned by December 31, 2012,” she said. “This approval included the commitment of the college that no position vacated would be filled until July 1, 2012, at the earliest.”

Nish said that with a guaranteed minimum of six months, affected units and departments could plan ahead.

“This also allows the units where there are vacancies, such as the library, time to analyze how to best address the vacancy,” she said. “All units are looking to reorganize, if possible, so that a minimum number of vacancies will be replaced in the future.”

Patti Torres, library support services supervisor, said this does cause problems.

“I don’t have the staff to do everything,” she said. “But we will still provide the same services. I hope this is temporary or everyone is going to suffer.”

Nursing student Melissa Aguirre, 22, and health science student Jerika Magbanua both use models at the library to study for their science classes. They also said the act of coming to the library inspired them to work.

“It wouldn’t be good at all if it closed earlier,” Aguirre said. “It already closes early enough.”

Magbanua said she appreciates having access to the library.

“At home I can’t really study,” she said. “I can’t focus. I get sidetracked. I want to lie down, watch TV and eat. But when I come to the library, I want to do all my work.”

Following a 5% cut in February, the library was scheduled for another 5.6% hit in September. Mink Stavenga, dean of Instructional Support Services – of which the library is part – knew the library would no longer be able to remain open on weekends. But he said the librarians figured out how to keep it open on Saturdays for a few more months.

“[Weekend closures] were originally going to start in mid-September,” he said. “But that was delayed until spring because the full-time library faculty decided they would reschedule their work hours and come in on Saturdays to cover shifts.”

Though librarians were holding Saturday closures at bay, when word came that the retiring employee’s position would not be filled, Stavenga said they knew they had to make harder changes, going from 54 hours a week to just 40. They decided to change their hours from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Fridays. The extra hour served a purpose, he said.

“We wanted to make sure we were open for the 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. hour for the evening students,” he said.

History student Benjamin Contreras, 23, uses the library at night because he attends evening classes. He applauds what the library offers students.

“This is a better environment to study,” he said. “Where else can you get the books you need?”

Barry Horlor, history professor, is one of many college educators who place textbooks on reserve at the library. In doing so, he allows students who can’t afford to buy the books to use the library to access them. He spoke bluntly about the impact on students.

“The students who will be hurt the most will be the ones who are striving to have a better life,” he said.

Architecture student Carlos Munguia, 25, works all day and attends class on the Chula Vista campus at 7 p.m. He uses reserve textbooks to study.

“I don’t have them,” he said. “They’re too expensive, so I come over here to check out the books and study.”

But he said that it would be impossible to use the library at all now.

“I won’t be able to study,” Munguia said, “because I will just have got out of work.”

Psychology student Catherine Delacruz, 22, said she visits the library two or three times a week. She also utilizes the reserve textbooks.

“I don’t buy my books all the time, so I use books on reserve,” she said. “It helps a lot by saving money.”

Stavenga said that the library’s own statistics show that most people use it between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. during the week. Even then, he said in an ideal world, things would be different.

“Ideally, we’d be open 24 hours a day. But don’t have the budget or the resources – financial or human resources – to do it that way,” he said.

Peraza said not everyone uses the library the same way.

“I’ve heard students say, ‘We really don’t use the library. We just need better wi-fi access.’ Or, ‘I never use it at night,’” he said. “The reality is that one size doesn’t fit all with any particular students. We need to be accessible to all sorts of students.”

Horlor said that, along with the change in hours, previous administrations have failed to keep the library’s collection current – to the detriment of students.

“You have to set up a list of priorities,” he said. “The University of California system has demanded that our History class SLOs (Student Learning Outcomes) require students to write a nine-page paper, or they will not be accepted as part of the articulation.”

Nish admits that the change in hours will reduce access to the library, but not for everyone.

“The library is, and continues to be, functional,” she said. “The reduction in hours of service will reduce physical access, not online access. This does not reduce (the library’s) functionality.”

Riddle said he hoped the library continued to function for the students.

“I like using it,” he said, “because being here makes me more productive.”

Stavenga said any anger directed at the senior administration is misdirected.

“My understanding is that the senior level administration is unhappy about making these cuts, and they are as angry as anyone about making the reductions,” he said. “Their intention is to put students first. That’s why we’re all here.”

He added that the situation, not people, were responsible.

“There are several levels of this one can be angry at,” Stavenga said. “There is the worldwide economy, the US economy, the California economy, the tight budget situation for all California community colleges, down to the crux of the matter – SWC’s budget.”

Bruce MacNintch, California State Employees’ Association chapter president, agreed.

“There is no individual to blame,” he said. “In 2008 the country experienced a financial crisis that impacts the state’s budget we get money from that we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. Taxes impact the state’s budget. If people don’t have jobs they cannot pay taxes. We depend on that money and we cannot offer the classes because we don’t have the money to pay for them.”

He says he believes the college will see better funding as the economy improves, but until then, students are going to have to learn to take advantage of the hours the library is open.

“We have finally hit bottom,” MacNintch said. “Things are going to improve, but it’s going to be a slow steady return. We will get there.”

Peraza said the board and administration have worked together and been supportive of not refilling these positions until July, but that it depends on how crucial the positions are.

“We’ve hired vice presidents,” he said. “We hired other people. There have been positions we’ve filled. And I think this is a position we really need to look at.”

He said the final decision rested with Dr. Nish.

“But as a board member, I would like to see her maybe reconsider and look at this,” he said. “All we’re really doing is considering filling one employee position at this point.”

Peraza said that if the administration brought in someone to cover one of the open library positions, they would make much less than someone who was retiring, and it might be only for an extra half-year salary.

“When you look at this again, you can’t just say, ‘Oh well. That’s what we decided a long time ago,’” he said. “We have to make a decision based on what’s best for the college and what’s best for students. We should take these on a case-by-case basis.”

Horlor said filling one position, or more, might be impossible.

“The idea that all jobs on campus need to be preserved is not realistic,” he said, but agreed about rethinking the situation.

“The administration should look into it openly and honestly,” he said. “If we don’t have a library open you might as well give back the state its money.”

He said previous administrations hadn’t understood the library’s purpose.

“The library’s budget has been decimated in the past few years,” Horlor said. “The librarians are not at fault because the past administration has overlooked the importance of the library.”

Peraza said that the loss of a classified employee at the library would have a major impact on the students.

“But all $6 million will have a direct impact,” he said. “If you have one teacher who’s not there anymore, that impacts classes. Maybe you can’t get into a class. This can affect how long it takes you to graduate. All this has an impact.”

Delacruz said she would feel it.

“Cutting hours would definitely clash with my work schedule as well as my school schedule,” she said.

MacNintch said this is bad, but not as bad as could be.

“I feel optimistic that Prop 30 is making a big difference when it comes to what the fiscal crisis looks like,” he said. “I think it makes the situation manageable, but we are going to have to make some tough decisions. We are not on the Titanic and the ship is not sinking.”

Read at the Sun.