Library under threat
By Alex Bainbridge
NEWCASTLE — Students are organising to prevent the closure of the Huxley Library at Newcastle University. A public forum and a protest march are planned for April 8 and 9 respectively.
The Huxley Library is one of two general libraries at the university. Plans to shut it down were first leaked late in 1995, provoking a student campaign during which almost a third of all students signed a petition against the closure.
After the Howard government's first budget, closure of the Huxley was again presented as a "necessary" cutback, prompting the latest round of protests.
The Newcastle University Students Association is uncertain about its position on the issue. A motion moved by a Resistance member at a March 24 meeting calling on NUSA to support protests against the closure or downgrading of the library was defeated. The administration's claim that the only options are shutting down Huxley or cutting library staff and services seems to have trapped many NUSA officials into supporting the closure.