April16,2014 TotheUniversitySenateLibrariesandDigitalResourcesCommittee: TheshortageofstudyspaceonColumbiasMorningsidecampus,particularlyforgroups,isabroad issuethatimpactsmanyareasoftheUniversity.AlthoughtheLibrarieshaveadded1,000additional seatsoverthepastdecade,enrollmenthasincreasedevenmorerapidly.Therearenearly1,300more undergraduatesand2,500moregraduatestudentsnowthanin2004. UntilSpring2013,WatsonLibrarywasopentoallstudents,faculty,andothermembersofthe UniversityLibraries.Thatsemester,WatsonLibraryandBusinessSchooladministratorsbanned undergraduatesfromthelibraryduringexamperiods,adecisionthatwasbothunilateraland unannounced.Overthenextsixmonths,thecombinedstudentcouncilsofCC,SEAS,andGSmanaged tosuccessfullyadvocateforashorttermcompromiseforFall2013toallowundergraduatestoenter thelibraryafter7p.m.onweekdaysandalldayonweekendsduringexamperiods.Thiscompromise wasmadewiththeunderstandingthatamoresustainable,longtermsolutionwouldbediscussedbythe Senate,asevidencedbytheresolutionsofeachcouncil.

il.Throughoutthisprocess,thecouncilshave continuouslyupheldthebeliefthatallUniversityLibrariesshouldremainopen,atallpossibletimes,toall membersoftheLibrariessystem. WenowasktheLibrariesandDigitalResourcesCommitteeoftheUniversitySenatetoupholdthese valuesaswellandtorestorefullaccesstoWatsonLibrary. ToallowaselectpopulationsofgraduatestudentstostudyinWatsonLibrary,yetnotundergraduates, isunfair.Toallowthelibrarytosithalfused,whileotherstudentssearchforseatsduringthemost stressfultimesoftheyear,isinefficient.Andtohaveinstitutedthisbanwithoutconsultingasingle representativeoftheundergraduatecommunity,oranyotheraffectedpopulation,wasdisrespectfulto theUniversitycommunityasawhole. ThoughtherearenoalternativestoreopeningWatson,thelackofstudyspaceoncampuswillcontinue tobeaproblemevenwiththisrestoration.Therefore,wealsorequestthatthiscommitteeexplorethe possibilityofmakingthefirstflooroftheScienceandEngineeringLibraryagroupstudyspace. Additionally,weasktheCommitteetojointhecouncilsintheongoingconversationaboutopeningmore academicbuildingsforlatenightstudyspace,anideawhichwassuggestedasfarbackas20072008 inyourCommitteesannualreport. TheUniversityLibrariesarecentraltotheundergraduateexperienceatColumbia,holdingacrucial placeinouracademicandsocialfabric.CCSC,ESC,andGSSCrecognizethecomplexityofstudy spaceissuesoncampusandhopetocontinueworkingwiththeUniversityLibrariestobestserveour studentbodies. Wesincerelythankyouforyourconsiderationandawaityourresponse. DaphneChen,President(ColumbiaCollegeStudentCouncil) SiddhantBhatt,President(EngineeringStudentCouncil) HannahGermond,President(GeneralStudiesStudentCouncil)