Free Speech Movement cafe

Empty cafes, a lonely Sproul Plaza and a complete lack of flyerers, uncharacteristically quiet frat row — there’s only one event at this time of year that could cause this baffling Berkeley phenomenon. It’s spring break, a time when almost all students skip town with the giddy knowledge that they have a week of respite from 8 a.m. classes and back-to-back midterms. For those staying behind in Berkeley for the week, it’s unsettling to see usually bustling campus haunts sit vacant.

This summer, Moffitt Library’s fourth and fifth floors will close for a renovation project that aims to accommodate an increasingly technological campus and provide students with a more suitable learning environment.