California college students hold protest to save library
BERKELEY, Calif. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - University of California (UC) Berkeley is known around the world for its protests, but a different kind of sit-in occurred on the campus Tuesday.
The purpose is to save a small library, and the protest was in its fifth day. The university is looking to shut down the Anthropology Library as a way to save money.
However, students who see its value aren't going away quietly.
Of all the public universities in the country, UC Berkeley is the only one with a library dedicated to the study of anthropology. The problem is, they don't seem very dedicated to keeping it open.
"Very peaceful, very calm"
The protest going on inside UC Berkeley's Anthropology and Art Building is a bit unusual. No chanting, no bullhorns. In fact, except for the beds strewn around the room, you wouldn't know anything was going on. But that's what happens when you occupy a library.
"I think people have a sense that an occupation is a huge struggle and maybe very divisive. But it's been very peaceful and very calm, actually," said Constance Villavaco, a library occupier.
The Anthropology Library is currently under fire. The students say Chancellor Carol Christ intends to shut the facility down to save more than $400.000 annually. And it's not the first time it's been threatened. In 2012, members of the Occupy Cal movement staged a sleep-in until the administration agreed to keep it open. On Friday, a new group of overnight guests moved in.
"We occupied the library, and we're going to continue to be here until we defend the library this time," said Hoku Jeffrey, library occupation organizer.
"Fundamentally about people"
At issue is whether this collection deserves its own space. The university wants to transfer the material to the main library, where much of it may end up in storage, and possibly use the location as a reading room. But research guide and anthropology doctorial candidate Jesus Gutierrez says what's on these shelves are the stories of the diversity of human experience.
"That means this library is fundamentally about people, about the history of people, their relationships, people to one another, the violent histories that people have suffered," Gutierrez explained.
For example, this obscure old book documents museum artifacts from the Belgium colonization of the Congo. But the brutal treatment of the natives has given the material an entirely different context in the current day.
Gutierrez says each of these books hold secrets about the true nature of man, and where we may be headed in the future saying, "It's really important for me to have this library as a collection, as an archive, so that I can teach my students to think critically about the history that they're inhabiting, and whether they want to repeat it or transform it."
No one will ever learn from it again
So far, the university has done nothing to stop the occupation. The protestors say they're staying to keep the material open and accessible to everyone.
"The occupation can end tomorrow if UC Berkeley can tell us that they're willing to make a plan to prioritize being a *public* university," Gutierrez added.
They say we must learn from history, to keep from repeating it. The fear is that if this goes into a warehouse, no one will ever learn from it again.
After the 2012 occupation, the university signed an agreement with students to keep the library open and staffed. No end date was mentioned in that agreement.
