OREM – Utah Valley University’s Fulton Library has reduced its hours following budget cuts, closing two hours earlier on weekdays and weekends.
The Change
Fulton Library has been an on-campus resource for college students and the general public since 2008 when UVU adopted its current namesake and transitioned from the name of Utah Valley State College. Up until recently, the library was set to operate generally having doors open at 7 a.m. and staying open until midnight Monday-Friday and closing earlier on the weekends. Recent changes at the start of the fall semester, however, have cut open hours back to close at 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7 p.m. on Fridays, 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and 8 p.m. Sundays. Library Director Lesli Baker says this is due to a change in budget for the library that went into effect before the start of the semester.
Budget Cuts
“Like many departments on campus, we were impacted by the recent university wide budget cuts.” Baker said in a response for comment, “Unfortunately when we received an 18% reduction to our hourly staffing budget, we had limited options.”.
The hour changes were based on “library usage data”, focusing on times where fewer students were using the building and only employees were typically present to keep the facility running. Comparisons between other university library hours of similar size and caliber were also made to inform the changes to hours.
Legislative Background
The budget cuts affecting Fulton Library and other campus departments stem from major state legislation passed during Utah’s 2025 legislative session. House Bill 265, sponsored by Rep. Karen Peterson and Sen. Ann Millner, along with the companion base budget bill HB1, collectively removed $60 million from Utah’s eight public universities—including an $8.9 million reduction for UVU specifically. The legislation, which passed the Senate 21-5 and was signed by Governor Spencer Cox, represents what the Salt Lake Tribune called “the biggest cut to schools here in at least the last decade”. While universities can potentially earn back portions of this funding by demonstrating reinvestment in “high-demand, high-wage majors” like business and engineering, the immediate impact has required departments across campus—including the library—to make significant operational adjustments. The current cuts follow previous legislative measures affecting higher education, including a $20 million reduction last year and further legislation prohibiting DEI programs, as part of lawmakers’ broader effort to align university programs with state workforce needs.
Student Response
Overall, the general response thus far has not been positive, with some students having taken to Reddit to voice their opinion of the change. One user named “Internal_Yak_4130” created a post to the r/UVU subreddit titled, “NEW LIBRARY HOURS”, citing the change as a “big big bummer!” and linking a library feedback form for their readers to fill out if they aren’t happy with the changes.
Students replied to the post voicing their displeasure, with one user writing, “This is insane!! How are we supposed to get our school work done??”, and another user writing, “My class gets out just before 7, what am I supposed to do?”
On-campus student reactions were similar, with current Construction Management student Nos Shabboz saying, “I guess me now, I would be fine, but freshman me would probably be pissed. Because that would be time that I would use to study and take my tests.”
Long Term
The hour changes are set to be in place for the foreseeable future, but Baker says that extended hours during critical semester times like finals is something that she hopes to see implemented.
“…we understand how important extended study time is, especially around finals. We hope to add extended hours during that critical time so students have the support and space they need to prepare…students are really at the heart of every decision we make here at the Fulton Library. These changes weren’t easy, but even with the budget cuts, our focus hasn’t shifted.”
LAST UPDATE: Updated New Friday Hours listed
