What is more important in a library than anything else – than everything else – is the fact that it exists.
Archibald MacLeish, «The Premise of Meaning,» American Scholar, 5 June 1972
Granted, it took ages until the library at «a university I know of» was reopened. But damn, it became very useful. Sure, there aren’t that many physical books left. Mostly the books lecturers want available for their students.
But if you need specific books, they can be ordered. And while it cut down on serendipitous discovery of interesting titles, it made space for work areas. Individual work areas, shared work areas, and separated group work rooms:
Very useful if you want to go somewhere else and work on something. The social control element is especially helpful. After all you are not doing … funny stuff in a public place. And the Wifi doesn’t hurt either if you need to go online. It is also — usually — an environment focused on work. All the other students are there to work, which makes concentrating on your work a bit easier.
And if it gets too loud (despite the signs), there are earplugs available:
And yeah, even though there are few books available, interesting discoveries are still possible.
And there are even books that are given away (sometimes admittedly for good reasons):
Nice — and a great place to work.
If you are looking for a place to work, are there similar places available? Even if you do not have access to a university library, sometimes city libraries aren’t bad either.
Happy studying.
