Fresno state says they have to cut hours because of budget cuts. Students say the explanation isn't good enough especially with finals starting on Monday.
Students at Fresno State staged a sit-in at the Madden Library Saturday.
They say the facility should be open longer than 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Roughly a dozen protesters sat near windows while other students cheered them on from down below.
"We're being told time and time again that there isn't enough money in the budget to keep people. To keep the people power, the needed faculty in the library to go past hours when we need it," Hector Cerda said.
This isn't the first time students have heard that explanation and it's not the first time they've broken the rules. Back in November of last year -- a much bigger crowd filled the library.
No word from the university on this latest protest but school officials back then also said lack of funds were to blame for the reduced hours.
"Our whole purpose is to try and stay late as long as we can. So it's the impact of the budget that has caused the fact that the library is not open. But if we find the money it's the first thing we want to do," Library Dean Peter McDonald said.
Students we spoke to say there is money. They believe it's just not being spent in the right places.
"There are other situations when there's private money that goes towards salaries for the Athletics program. Millions of dollars are donated to the Athletics program. And that money goes towards salaries and coaches or other people who work for the university. Why can't the same thing be done for the library," Cerda said.
Around 7:30 p.m. campus police finally arrived to escort the students out. Fresno State says the sit-in ended peacefully with no arrests or citations.
