Booth Library now closes at 10 p.m. instead of 12 a.m. from Sunday-Thursday, following negotiations between management and the worker’s union.
The change went into effect at the start of the spring semester.
According to Amie Calvert, the director of employee and labor relations at EIU, an interactive process and negotiations with AFSCME Local 981 were started due to a formal demand to bargain initiative.
“…The university thereafter made a final determination consistent with its assessment of institutional, employee, student need and a comparison of peer libraries,” Calvert wrote in an email.
Kim Pope, the president of AFSCME Local 981, said the negotiations to change the library’s hours were a result of the layoffs that happened in October 2025, which reduced staff in the library.
Booth Library had five layoffs and one nonrenewal.
“We utilized a process called impact bargaining, in which if management has made a decision that’s going to impact working conditions, we can bargain with management to make sure there is not going to be a negative impact on the staff,” she said.
Following the staffing changes, the main concern was how the building would safely function with a reduction of employees.
Senior history and philosophy major Keegan Bottom, a 2-year student worker for Booth Library, described the difficulty staff has had with effectively closing the library.
“It’s a bit difficult because we don’t have as many people to help make sure everybody is out and close doors. Right now, we only have three people, sometimes only two to help clear the floors, so that’s one of the challenges,” he said. “It can be a little bit more unsettling if you’re the only person down on the first floor.”
The employees, worried about their safety in the late evenings, took the initiative to contact their union to address these issues, according to Pope.
“After a series of meetings with management and staff, we found that they did end up changing the building hours this semester. The workers are really satisfied with the change,” she said.
Pope stated that along with hour changes, library management is putting into effect multiple precautions to help staff with safety, like the use of two-way radios to communicate amongst each other, putting up signage, and camera use.
Holly Farley, the vice president of academic affairs at EIU, said that regional public universities that are the size of Eastern and have similar enrollment were chosen for a comparison of library hours.
“Some of the libraries close as early as 9 p.m., like in Illinois State, which is much bigger than we are,” she said.
Other universities compared were Millikin University (8 p.m.), Western Illinois University (12 a.m.), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (11 p.m.) and Southern Illinois University Carbondale (11 p.m.)
However, some students say these changes conflict with their schedules.
Ashlyn Nobles, a junior double major in accounting and finance, said that she would depend on late hours in the library during finals week as a student-athlete for EIU’s women’s soccer team.
“I’m a night owl, so instead of waking up earlier to study, I choose to study after my classes, practices and lifts. So depending on our schedule, 6 p.m. to midnight are my prime study hours,” she said. “It’s kind of hard for me to study in my apartment because I have four roommates. So it’s nice to go to the library and be able to be in a quiet space and have less distractions. It’s unfortunate to take away the late hours.”
There is a 24-hour study lounge in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
Andrea Jimenez can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].
