Student occupation of UC Berkeley library enters fifth day | CPT PPP Coverage

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BERKELEY – On Tuesday, the occupation of UC Berkeley’s anthropology library entered its fifth day, with students demanding that it be preserved. 

Of all the public universities in the country, Cal is the only one with a library dedicated entirely to the study of anthropology. The question is: are they dedicated to keeping it open?

The protest going on inside UC Berkeley’s Anthropology and Art Building is a bit unusual. No chanting, no bullhorns. You can hear a pin drop. 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.

“To be honest, it’s been kind of nice,” said Constance Villavaco, who had slept in the library for three nights. “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.”

The Anthropology Library is currently under fire. The students said 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 at the library until the administration agreed to preserve it. To end the protest, the university signed an agreement with students to keep the library open and staffed. No end date was mentioned in that agreement. On Friday–once again–a new group of overnight guests moved in.

“We occupied the library,” said organizer Hoku Jeffrey, “and we’re going to continue to be here until we defend the library THIS time.”

At issue is whether the book collection deserves its own space. The protestors said 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 doctoral candidate Jesus Gutierrez said what’s on the shelves are the stories of the diversity of human experience.

“That means this library is fundamentally about people,” he said, “about the history of people, their relationships, people to one another, the violent histories that people have suffered.”

For example, one obscure old book documents museum artifacts from the Belgium colonization of the Congo. But the photos show objects gotten through bloodshed, and the brutal treatment of the natives has given the material an entirely different context in the current day. Gutierrez says each of the books hold secrets about the true nature of man, and where we may be headed in the future.

“It’s really important for me to have this library as a collection, as an archive,” he said, “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.”

So far, the university has done nothing to stop the occupation. The protestors said 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,” said Gutierrez.

It’s said we must learn from history to keep from repeating it. The fear is that, if the Anthropology Library’s collection goes into a warehouse, no one will ever learn from it again.