Editor’s note (June 27): After conversations with students, faculty, and campus leaders, Library leadership has agreed to a reduced service model that will keep the Anthropology Library open as a study- and browsing-only space in the near future. The library is currently closed, with tentative plans to reopen in the fall under the new service model.
The UC Berkeley Library today announces the indefinite closing of the Anthropology Library.
Collections from this library will remain accessible to students and faculty through paging for pickup at another campus library. The anthropology librarian will also continue to provide assistance (in person and virtually) and ensure that new materials are added to support research in the diverse fields of anthropology. Patrons are encouraged to seek research help and study space at any of the nearly two dozen other libraries across Berkeley’s campus, including the neighboring Environmental Design and Music locations.
The Anthropology Library, which has been open four hours a day on weekdays, will close starting Monday, Feb. 28. This decision was prompted by severe and sustained staffing shortages.
“It is with a heavy heart that we close any library location,” said Jeff MacKie-Mason, university librarian. “But we are faced with unprecedented challenges, due to both the pandemic and the budget, and we have to make hard decisions about where to devote our limited resources to best serve our campus population — in particular, our students.”