For history undergraduate Keshell Mickens, the William J. Parish Memorial Library was part of her daily routine.
"Sometimes I just want a break from Zim, and I like this library better," Mickens said. "It has a lot more outlets, and the study rooms are usually available."
Mickens, who described herself as an introvert, said she comes to Parish to eat her lunch and study. She said Parish is empty and sparsely populated study spaces are quiet and calming — which is exactly the reason the library dedicated to business, economics, management and public administration will close this year.
While not yet announced officially, the College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences Marketing Manager Patricia Campbell confirmed the library will close in summer 2020. Campbell declined to comment on how the library space will be used until after the 2020 New Mexico legislative session ends.
Library Operations Manager Nancy Bennett, who manages Parish Library, also declined to comment on the library's closure.
Over winter break, UNM Newsroom published a press release that said Parish's hours would be reduced. The press release did not indicate the library would close.
"Library usage data shows an average of less than 10 people use the library after 6 p.m.," the press release said. "For this reason, library administration decided to reduce weeknight hours."
Daniel Atchison said the hours reduction was the beginning of the end for the library he's worked at for almost seven years.
"The other libraries are willing to take us, which is nice," Atchison said, referring to the Parish student staff. "It's just kind of sad in a way."
Atchison, who started as a theater student and gravitated to film, said he began working at Parish in the second month of his first semester at UNM. After about a year, Atchison became a student-staff manager.
"Being here for so long, I've worked with and trained a lot of different student employees. It's easy to get close to them because there's like seven of us, maybe eight of us," Atchison said. "It's just such a low staff that you become more friends than coworkers."
Atchison said over his seven years at Parish, he's noticed the decline in students using the library.
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Since the fall semester of 2012, student enrollment has plummeted by one-fifth (21.68%), according to data from UNM's Office of Institutional Analytics. It's unclear if the enrollment slide affected students' use of Parish beyond the fact that there are fewer students.
Atchison pointed to the opening of the McKinnon Center for Management building in 2018 as the final nail in Parish's coffin. He also believes McKinnon was looking to absorb the space. However, Anderson School of Management Interim Dean Shawn Berman didn't comment on the matter.
For Mickens, the news of Parish's closing was unexpected.
"I'm a little devastated actually, because I do come here almost every day to eat lunch and study," Mickens said. "It's gonna be weird trying to find somewhere else that's like as good as an environment as this library."
Justin Garcia is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Just516garc
