Spring Break
Under budget crunch, museums and libraries cut hours
Kate Monohan
Issue date: 3/25/09 Section: News
Due to recent budget cuts, UConn's libraries and museums will reduce their hours beginning Monday, March 30, in an effort to reduce budgetary pressures.
The Homer Babbidge Library will open at 8:30 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m. and the Thomas J. Dodd Center's reading room will be open weekdays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The William Benton Museum of Art will take a 50 percent reduction in hours, and the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History will be open only Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Cutting hours simply means cutting back on the university's operations budget and staffing to keep these facilities open, President Michael Hogan said.
"These aren't the only things on the table," Hogan said.
The cut in hours are just a small part of a wider $7 million savings plan set in place by the Costs, Operations and Revenue Efficiencies (CORE) Task Force, which is made up of Hogan and faculty, staff and administrators appointed by Hogan, according a university press release.
The reduced hours should lead to approximately $40,000 in annual savings, according to the release. Provost Peter Nicholls is planning to cut the museums' budgets beginning in the 2011 fiscal year in order to save $300,000, according to the release.
Hogan emphasized that the cuts in museums hours are being done to save students from cuts that could impact the quality of research and academic performance.
Homer Babbidge library will still be open for 11.5 hours per week, and 24-hour reading rooms with computer access are still available resources for students who want to get an early-morning start to their studies, said Brinley Franklin, vice provost for University Libraries.
Access to printing facilities, however, will not be available before 8 a.m. classes as a result of the hours change.
According to Franklin, who is also in charge of the Dodd Center, limiting the center's reading room hours shouldn't have a large impact on the community, since primarily students and researchers, not the general public, use the McDonald reading room. Researchers can still make appointments to access the collections outside of hours, Franklin explained.
"[The museums] add to the quality of life at the university," Hogan said. "We're not closing any of these [museums]," he added to curb panic among museum frequenters.
Despite the cuts in public hours, the Natural History museum will still be able to do its scheduled programming, bringing in an average of a few hundred people each week, said Leanne Harty, director of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History.
The museum might only be open three days a week, but it remains a large presence with exhibits and programs statewide, Harty explained.
The director of the Benton Museum could not be reached for comment.
The Homer Babbidge Library will open at 8:30 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m. and the Thomas J. Dodd Center's reading room will be open weekdays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The William Benton Museum of Art will take a 50 percent reduction in hours, and the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History will be open only Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Cutting hours simply means cutting back on the university's operations budget and staffing to keep these facilities open, President Michael Hogan said.
"These aren't the only things on the table," Hogan said.
The cut in hours are just a small part of a wider $7 million savings plan set in place by the Costs, Operations and Revenue Efficiencies (CORE) Task Force, which is made up of Hogan and faculty, staff and administrators appointed by Hogan, according a university press release.
The reduced hours should lead to approximately $40,000 in annual savings, according to the release. Provost Peter Nicholls is planning to cut the museums' budgets beginning in the 2011 fiscal year in order to save $300,000, according to the release.
Hogan emphasized that the cuts in museums hours are being done to save students from cuts that could impact the quality of research and academic performance.
Homer Babbidge library will still be open for 11.5 hours per week, and 24-hour reading rooms with computer access are still available resources for students who want to get an early-morning start to their studies, said Brinley Franklin, vice provost for University Libraries.
Access to printing facilities, however, will not be available before 8 a.m. classes as a result of the hours change.
According to Franklin, who is also in charge of the Dodd Center, limiting the center's reading room hours shouldn't have a large impact on the community, since primarily students and researchers, not the general public, use the McDonald reading room. Researchers can still make appointments to access the collections outside of hours, Franklin explained.
"[The museums] add to the quality of life at the university," Hogan said. "We're not closing any of these [museums]," he added to curb panic among museum frequenters.
Despite the cuts in public hours, the Natural History museum will still be able to do its scheduled programming, bringing in an average of a few hundred people each week, said Leanne Harty, director of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History.
The museum might only be open three days a week, but it remains a large presence with exhibits and programs statewide, Harty explained.
The director of the Benton Museum could not be reached for comment.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 5
Jennifer
posted 3/25/09 @ 9:17 AM EST
Upon reading this article the sentence, "The reduced hours should lead to approximately $40,000 in annual savings, according to the release" jumped out at me and I cannot help but laugh. (Continued…)
samueljaxon
Thesis writing
posted 6/19/09 @ 1:36 PM EST
According to Franklin, who is also in charge of the Dodd Center, limiting the center's reading room hours shouldn't have a large impact on the community. (Continued…)
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