By Sarah Murphy and Julianne Kidd
Utah State University’s Merrill-Cazier Library has closed its doors to the general public, and will shut down several floors to everyone, as new precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
On March 23, the library announced via Twitter that, to protect Aggies and community members, the facility would only be open to enrolled students and university employees starting this week. The library followed that announcement on Tuesday by restricting access to most other spaces beyond the first floor, only keeping the computer commons area open for use.
Starting Wednesday, the library was only opening its doors to students from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Saturday hours are now noon to 5 p.m and the library will be closed Sundays.
Students who visit the library will find they are only able to use the first floor commons as the library has also made the decision to close off the rest of its four floors to students.
“We restricted access to the first floor in an attempt to better monitor social distancing, maintain cleanliness and other safety measures,” said the library’s dean, Bradford Cole. “This is to ensure that we are able to keep the Information Commons open.”
The Information Commons are the library’s computer labs. While the labs remain open, some computers will be offline to follow social distancing policies, which are being strictly enforced. All computers are frequently being sanitized.
“It makes me feel good knowing that the school really does care about the protection of its students,” Utah State junior Grant Adams said. “There are a lot of people being affected by this, but they’re choosing to help and protect me.”
Other library resources, such as study rooms, help desks, archives and special collections, will be unavailable. According to the library's website, the Library Writing Center, the LatinX Cultural Center and the Disability Resource Center will discontinue their in-person services as well.
Although services like research help in special collections are typically in-person experiences, library leaders are assuring students these services can still be accessed through digital channels.
The library’s staff members are encouraging students to utilize online chats, email and phone appointments if students need help with research for their courses. The library’s leaders are counting on students shifting to these online options and have extended their online services from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“It's kind of annoying,” said Camilla Cox, a junior studying at USU. She especially dislikes that the library closed down the study rooms because she would use them when teaching online American Sign Language labs. “I wish they would have kept them open but only have one person in there.”
Some Logan residents are also frustrated with the recent changes.
“I've gone to the library in the past, and now is a time where I find myself wanting to go,” Logan resident Kyle Hatch said. “Being told that I can’t is a huge bummer.”
Since many local businesses have closed their doors for the time being, many Cache County residents are working remotely.
“With the Logan Library shutting down, and now the USU Library closing, too,” Hatch said, “it’s been hard finding a quiet place with Wi-Fi to go to do work.”
Utah State librarians said they are just focusing on safety.
“We’re sorry for any inconvenience that may be caused,” Merrill-Cazier librarian Ken Buist said. “The purpose is to serve our Aggies and stay healthy.”
It is yet unclear when the library will reopen to the general public.
“It’s hard to tell when things will return to normal,” Buist said. “For now, we’re just taking it one day at a time and hoping for the best.”
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