 it's like Walter White. You loved it until it turned bad. You know what I mean? Rest in peace Moffitt. I'm Krishna Sam with CalTV News and I'm standing in front of Moffitt Undergraduate Library, one of the most popular libraries here on UC Berkeley's campus. In 2016, the library reopened its doors after its first renovations in its 45-year history with a reimagined fourth and fifth floor with brighter, more vibrant and more open study spaces for students. On January 16th, 2024, the university announced additional renovations to Moffitt, much to displeasure of some students. We're fucked. Final week will be insane. It'll be people intense, out on the glade. But I just, I guess I don't understand the timeline. It just doesn't seem like it's supporting students, but it does support, I guess, sort of like school infrastructure. Why fix what's not broke, you know? Like, it's, it does the fucking job. Like, yes, the first floor kind of reminds me of an airport, like the chairs and shit, but like, you know, it's, it's goofy. It's fun. You got whiteboards. There's a nap pot, a nap place. Well, I don't even, are there any other nap rooms on this campus? Like, I actually fell asleep reading Anna Karenina in there. Had a very lovely nap. I don't know. I think it's going to be chaos. There's, it's, it's already chaotic in Berkeley. Like, as time has gone on, the university has announced more specifics for the renovation plan. The renovation timeline has been pushed back with the closure going to come at the end of 2024, instead of at the end of this spring semester and the reopening plan for fall 2026. This new timeline is actually longer than the original timeline, which had plans for closure after the spring 2024 semester and reopening in fall 2025, which means that net extra semester has been added to the renovation. As Chef Mackie Mason, the university librarian explains, this was not always the original plan. Uh, around 2010, the original plan was developed and the plan was to renovate the whole thing all at once if they could raise enough money. Um, but the fundraising then didn't raise sufficient funds to renovate the entire building. So the plan went ahead with phase one. Similar to how the fourth and fifth floor were reimagined in 2016, the third floor and down will be reimagined through this renovation, standing in stark contrast to how Moffitt both looks now and how it used to look pre 2016. But it was just this empty, ugly space with linoleum tile floors that were broken, old furniture that was broken, ceilings that dripped. It was really pretty awful. The entire first, second and third floor are going to be renovated into completing what we're calling the Center for Connected Learning or now the Carol T. Christ Center for Connected Learning. It's going to be an incredibly fabulous space. The whole building is going to be as nice or nicer than floors four and five. It's going to be really the prime space on campus, particularly for undergraduates. There is student support for the renovation plans given the lower floor's quality, but there remains concern of how Moffitt will be replaced in the meantime, especially due to its status as a 24 seven social library. I'm with that. Like, why is there literally airport chairs there? Yeah. Okay. I feel it. For other students, like Moffitt is like Disneyland. I know people going there and they're like getting numbers. They're pulling all nighters. They're doing assignments and like linking up. The reserve rooms next year is going to be a crap show. Bro, I'm literally like, it's probably going to be like a Nike release. I don't know. Like, there really aren't any like 24 hour open places that I know in the area, but I think it's really important for students to have a space where they can, you know, eat and feel comfortable and get their shit done. I don't know. It's like a place of solace for a lot of people. I think it'll be a challenge. I mean, it's already a challenge, of course. Every campus could use more study space. We've been working with campus and, you know, alerted them to this issue some time ago, so the campus can work to develop alternative study spaces. But it's going to be a bit more squished during construction. We are will be lengthening the hours and dough to make up for some of the hours lost in Moffitt. So for instance, right now, dough library is not open on Saturdays. It will be open on Saturdays. I will also have later hours. It won't go all night, the way Moffitt does, but it will be later in the evening than it is currently. At the moment, we don't have plans to expand hours elsewhere in part because that costs money and our budgets are being cut, not increased. Epsomain stacks are another library center of the university. I'm Krishna Sam and I'll see y'all soon.