The 2024-25 academic year has come with several changes to USC Libraries. USC has cut library hours across campuses, reducing the number of facilities open late and on weekends. In addition, the University also paused the procurement of certain new library materials.   

Leavey Library will have the same hours as in the 2023-24 academic year. However, Leavey is now the only University library open past 8 p.m. on any day, and the only one open on Saturdays.

In the 2023-24 academic year, six libraries were open on Saturdays. Most university libraries are now closed on certain days and have reduced nighttime hours. 

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This is not the first time in recent history that library hours have been cut. As recently as 2019, most libraries had hours beyond what they had in the 2023-24 academic year. The Accounting Library, for example, operated from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday in 2019. After the coronavirus pandemic, weekday hours changed to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This year, the library is also closed on weekends. 

Even Leavey, which is frequently used for all-nighters and late study work, had its hours reduced after the coronavirus pandemic. The library was originally open 24/7 except for a nine-hour closure between midnight Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday. Leavey is now closed from midnight on Friday to 9 a.m. on Saturday, and from 9 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. on Sunday. 

Chris Clausen, a junior majoring in urban studies and planning, said he was concerned for students who study late at night.

“There aren’t as many places for them to study,” Clausen said. “Especially later in the evening, when it gets dark, the libraries are important to give students that opportunity … A lot of people may not know about [the new hours] and may be planning their schedules based on the previous hours.”

While there are patterns in library closures, hour and day reductions are not entirely consistent across the USC libraries system. 

Doheny Memorial Library, the University’s central library, now closes two hours earlier — at 8 p.m. — from Monday to Thursday and is closed on Saturdays. 

The Library for International & Public Affairs at the Crow Center for International & Public Affairs, which previously mimicked Doheny’s hours, now closes three hours earlier at 7 p.m. Other facilities have also reduced hours and open days, including the Science and Engineering Library and the Architecture and Fine Arts Library. 

In total, eight on-campus libraries have reduced their hours and eliminated weekend days. The only unaffected libraries besides Leavey Library on the University Park Campus are those that already closed at 5 p.m. on weekdays and libraries that require appointments to enter. 

Many other buildings and rooms on campus are restricted to specific faculty, staff or students. For example, Doheny has locked several rooms and restricted space usage to only those patrons using the resources housed in the space, citing insufficient study space overall. 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, USC Libraries wrote it made the changes after assessing use throughout its system. 

“We look periodically at library hours and have made some changes this year after assessing usage patterns of spaces and services,” USC Libraries wrote. “We will continue to analyze and assess trends in activity at our libraries throughout the year.”

When asked whether new material purchases were paused, USC Libraries wrote that a pause in acquisitions for “certain” library materials came into effect at the beginning of the school year.

“The libraries maintain a number of multiyear agreements and subscriptions that continue to add new ebook, database, and journal titles and content to USC’s collections,” USC Libraries wrote. 

The Daily Trojan inquired whether any University budget adjustments affected the decision, but USC Libraries declined to comment on this. 

Isaac Millians, a junior majoring in international relations, was critical of the reduced library hours and their ramifications. While Leavey retains the same hours from past years, Millians said this was not a solution to the overall changes. He said he already struggles to study at Leavey. “I personally find it difficult to concentrate if there are crowds, and I know others feel similarly,” Millians said. “This is only going to make the problem worse.” 

Millians said libraries are one of the most important locations for students to learn and interact. 

“If you restrict a student’s ability to use libraries that are explicitly for them, you’re restricting their fundamental ability to engage with the school,” Millians said.