A power outage Thursday night in University Library left scores of students in the dark as a storm brewed outside and lightning lit up the sky.

The library closed at about 9 p.m. when the power shut down, forcing students to leave in search of electricity in their dorms or in other buildings.

“It sucks,” said Weinberg sophomore Sridhar Ayala as he prepared to the leave. “I was doing an entire movie project for the last eight hours.”

Ayala said he will come back to the library when it opens tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. in hopes of finding the project — due Friday — still saved on the computer.

Ayala stood at the library’s entrance at about 9:20 p.m. following a swirl of other students who also were leaving the dark building.

Student monitors checked people leaving with library books with flashlights as a message over the library’s speaker system announced that the library was closing due to a power outage.

Alex Albertini, a McCormick senior who works at the library’s entrance area, said this is the first power outage he’s seen since he began working there in January.

“I have no idea how widespread it is on campus but one student came from Cahn (Auditorium) and said they had power,” he said.

Two University Police cars pulled up just outside the library and at least one UP officer was seen walking through the building.

The police are just one of many officials to contact when there is a power outage, said Hoon Kim, a security assistant for the library and political science graduate student.

Weinberg sophomore Jessica Eng was working in the library’s Multimedia Center and watching a movie for class when the electricity went out.

“(Things) started flickering then everything just went out,” she said. “I hope that there’s power in my dorm.”

The library remained closed for the night.

— Sheila Burt