The grant will help offset the last year’s $3 million cut to the university’s library 2011-12 budget as the university faces a $60 million school-wide cut in funding from the state. The cuts are a result of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposed in Jan. 11, which cut $500 million from the entire UC system.

In response to the planned closures of four major university library resources — three have already closed —  part of the grant will be allocated to the creation of a new 24-hour study area in Geisel Library – open five days a week – scheduled to begin operation in fall 2012.

“This helps students because now they have access to a 24-hour study space,” Academic Senate Library Committee undergraduate representative Anish Bhayani said. “This is something that students have been begging for since the beginning. It is definitely a big win for students in terms of having more access to study space during the school year.”

Previously, Geisel Library has only hosted 24-hour study areas during Week 10 and finals week. This will still be the case for 2011-12 — the new “24/5” study areas will not be open until next fall.

“This gift will benefit students as well as faculty by providing funds to support our collections, especially in History,” University Librarian Brian E. C. Schottlaender said in an email. “Students will be very positively impacted next fall, when our new 24/5 study area will open in Geisel.”

Last February, the university administration announced the closure of four university libraries, including the Center for Library & Instructional Computing Services and the International Relations & Pacific Studies Library.

Schottlaender said that though the gift is much appreciated, it wouldn’t be enough to reopen the libraries that closed last year.

“In spite of this bequest, the university and the libraries continue to face severe budget
cuts as the State’s situation shows no signs of improving,” Schottlaender said.

According to a university press release, approximately 800 study seats were lost in the
closures.

As part of A.S. Council’s May 2011 “Save Our Libraries Campaign,” 126 new computer workstations will be added in Geisel during Fall Quarter and over 260 new study seats will be added next year. The Geisel expansion is expected to be completed during summer of 2012.

In addition to the study lounges, a portion of the gift will be used to enhance and maintain the library’s collection, and will also fund the H. Stuart Hughes UCSD Libraries Endowment for Modern European History.

The Alice G. Marquis Living Trust is named after a UCSD alumna who graduated with a doctorate in modern European history in 1979. The trust’s donation is the biggest single donation ever made to the university’s libraries. Marquis was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to New York City after fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938. She passed away in 2009.

The collections of the closed libraries are being merged into the university’s two remaining libraries, the Biomedical Library and Geisel. It could take up to three years to complete the consolidation of the libraries. The Scripps Institute of Oceanography Library is scheduled to close in 2012, though the exact date has not been set.