Price Center East is now open to students 24 hours a day from Monday to Thursday and closes at midnight from Friday to Sunday as of Oct. 21.
While the businesses located in Price Center East will continue to open and close at their scheduled hours, the building itself will allow students continuous access to their facilities.
Price Center has previously offered operating hours until 2 a.m. This shift comes in light of Geisel Library no longer offering a 24-hour schedule as a study space for students.
Communications & engagement director of the UC San Diego Library system, Nikki Kolupailo, explained in a written statement to The UCSD Guardian that the decision to shorten library hours was not made lightly.
Kolupailo stated that the library remains committed to supporting students’ academic needs and has worked to identify alternative late-night study locations.
“One of these locations is the Price Center, which just began offering extended hours on Oct. 21 in order to accommodate student study needs,” she explained.
“We believe the Price Center meets the needs of students seeking a safe and accessible late-night study space. It is centrally located and well-equipped with study rooms, computer labs, lounges, and ample seating.”
Fourth-year Paul Saraceno expressed disappointment with the switch in overnight study locations.
“[PC East is] so small. I’m not gonna be able to study because all the spots are taken, because everyone. … has moved to Price Center East.”
Saraceno is not alone. Several other students raised concerns over the seating availability between the spaces.
“Price East isn’t even as big as Geisel was. The space is more limited,” fourth-year Juliete Portillo said. “Opening something up as a replacement of something closing isn’t necessarily solving any issue, if anything, it makes it worse.”
Second-year Case Rowan elaborated on the differences between Geisel and Price Center East.
“I feel like that’s not an equal compensation. One’s dedicated to studying. One has a giant food court. … [when] you come to the library, you’re like, ‘I’m gonna study.’ Price Center [is] more like just a fun place to hang out.”
Students like Portillo have expressed hope for more 24-hour study spaces around campus, like Price Center East. According to Portillo, this change would allow for more accessible spaces for commuters to study on-campus.
“I’m only available to study practically at night, and so not having a space where I can study at night, or like having less places to study at night is frustrating. … I’m hoping they’ll open up more study spaces that are 24 hours.”
While Price Center East extended its hours, it remains uncertain if or when Geisel may return to its 24-hour-a-day operation.
“We understand that the reduced hours may be challenging for students who rely on the Library for late-night study,” Kolupailo said. “In our review of what services to change, we strived to minimize the impact on the majority of students. Our data showed that usage dropped significantly starting at 10 p.m., so we made the decision to close at that time Sunday through Thursday.”
When discussing the future of 24-hour Library operations, Kolupailo provided insight into the current situation.
“At this time, we do not know when the Library may be able to resume previous hours and services,” Kolupailo said. “If the budget reductions from the state are reduced or eliminated in future years, we will likely conduct another assessment to determine what services could be added back to the benefit of the largest number of students.”
