UCLA Library Budget

About Night Powell

Funding for Night Powell, the extended-hours reading room in the Powell Library Building, comes from the Library’s regular operations budget; the Library receives no student fees to fund its operation, and there are no endowments that have been established to support it on an ongoing basis.

The UCLA Library depends on state funding for almost ninety percent of its overall budget, which must support collections, services, staff, and multiple campus libraries and facilities. Its allocation of state funds has been cut by five percent, or $1.8 million, and it must also cover more than $1 million in charges for energy, deferred maintenance, increases in fringe benefits costs, and employer contributions to retirement. That brings the total reduction the Library must plan for to just under $3 million, or about eight percent of its total budget.

History

When it opened following the Powell Library Building’s 1992-96 renovation, Night Powell was open Monday through Thursday from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., Friday from 6 to 11 p.m., Sunday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., and closed on Saturday. Beginning in March 2000, hours during tenth week and finals week were expanded to twenty-four hours a day.

In fiscal year 2001-02 the Library received a temporary funding increase from the chancellor, which among other things was used to increase hours in all campus libraries. With those funds, Night Powell’s twenty-four-hour schedule was expanded to begin as of the fourth week of classes in fall 2001.

That temporary funding increase was not continued in the following fiscal years, when the Library began facing budget cuts. However, various operational consolidations and efficiencies enabled the Library to preserve expanded Night Powell hours until this year.

Current Status: Updated November 3, 2009

The university librarian had previously committed to opening Night Powell during the fall quarter for twenty-four-hour service during tenth week and finals week, though it would be closed during the preceding weeks. Since then, Chancellor Gene Block has secured funding to restore the opening hours of Night Powell as of Monday, November 2. 

The need for twenty-four-hour study space is a campus responsibility, not solely a Library one, and there are other campus options:

• ASUCLA Twenty-Four-Hour Study Lounge
• Residence Halls 

Many UCLA Library collections and services, including electronic reserves, digital books and journals, and online reference assistance, are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.