Participants in the “study-in” at the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno exited the building Saturday at 7:45 a.m. after staying overnight.

Following a night of discussions with the library dean, which included a press conference and a closed-door meeting that lasted close to 30 minutes, more than 20 students made their way through the glass doors of the library, where they were greeted by family, fellow students and community members.

Protest organizers and  library dean Peter McDonald  struck a deal shortly after midnight that all students would leave the library by 8 a.m., according to a Collegian reporter inside the library. Further details of the closed-door session could not be confirmed Saturday morning.

Participants spent nearly 16 hours inside the closed library, where they protested the library’s reduced hours. Recent budget cuts led to the reduction of operational hours for the library.

But a recent injection of approximately $1.4 million in federal stimulus money will allow the library to now open its doors on Saturdays, according to a university news release issued this past Wednesday, Nov. 18.

By 7 a.m. Saturday, the crowd of supporters outside had dwindled to seven, several of whom had slept there overnight. At the protest’s peak Friday night, a Collegian reporter inside the library recorded up to 94 students, as a crowd of up to 41 assembled outside.

Following the study-in, university administrators did not address those outside. Organizers of the study-in thanked the people outside for their support.

By 8:06 a.m., the scene in front of the library had cleared.

Collegian reporters Sergio Cortes and Thaddeus Miller contributed to this story.