Not just any library

It's a bleak day at universities when closing libraries becomes a way to save money. It would seem that maintaining such hubs should be one of the core purposes of colleges, to ensure the furthering of education with resources for students. But closures were all the rumor last week. \nIt was decided in December that the School of Library and Information Sciences Library, which is located at the Herman B Wells Library, would close this summer. It was also rumored that the School of Journalism Library, the Geography and Map Library and the African American Cultural Center Library would close this summer as well. The AACC library is located at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. However, after students protested the AACC library shutdown, library administration promised not to close the library until after the 2006-2007 school year.\nCongratulations to those students who took part in the protest. It's always nice to see a student group on campus accomplish something and fight for what it believes in. But we can't help but wonder -- what if the student group's protest hadn't been successful? What would this have meant for our campus, already lacking in diversity?\nWhile the committee that selected those three libraries to potentially close looked at student activity in those libraries, among other things, they didn't look at the symbolic nature of the AACC. By closing this library they would be shutting down a place where culture lives and breathes, not just a place that students check out books or read their e-mail. \nWe don't believe the University's motives to shut down the AACC library were racially motivated, but more focused on saving money. But there are some places on campus, like libraries, that shouldn't be looked at as money-makers.\nThe AACC is the only library on campus that isn't attached to a school. It shouldn't be looked at as a way to make the University big bucks, but instead as a landmark on campus, as the first and only cultural center with a library. Shutting it down might make a couple of thousand dollars, but at what cultural price? What this library lacks in financial ability within the University it makes up in cultural awareness. \nThe possible plan to shut down this library showcases that IU's financial decision-making process takes place behind a fish bowl lens. They look at raw data instead of what larger implications the decision might have. The University should learn to look at these decisions through a wide lens and see the bigger picture. \nAnd if we are really hard pressed for money, why don't we stop putting up huge, red clocks on campus? Libraries seem like a much better investment than campus aesthetics.