The USF Tampa Library is going back to its round-the-clock hours Sunday through Thursday, perhaps as soon as next week, university officials say.
University of South Florida Interim Vice President of Student Affairs Tom Miller said the extra library hours will now be funded permanently from the academic budget.
"We’re committed to the money. We don’t know exactly where exactly it’s going to come from," Miller said. "Some fund within academic affairs will be the source for it and we’ll have to make a real reduction somewhere."
It costs $136,000 to pay for two staff members and security to keep the library open 24 hours a day, five days a week.
The library had been operating on that schedule since the 2009-2010 school year, with funding from cash reserves. Some students staged protests outside the library after they found out it would only be open until midnight this semester.
"On behalf of student government, we understand the financial crisis that all universities in the system are facing with the budget cuts and things like that, so we want to do anything we can help as long as its within our realm," said USF Student Government President Will Warmke.
Warmke said he was against using student activity and service fees to pay for the extra library hours because he considers it an academic cost.
