The Chronicle: Colloquy: Responses

While I love books, and fondly remember the tranquil, hushed sanctuary of my hometown's public library, I can't stand the libraries at my university. The lighting is bad -- one can hardly read the book titles in the stacks. The chairs are hard and uncomfortable. The rug is stained and the walls are dingy. The individual study rooms are not completely enclosed, and one can hear every sniffle, sigh, and comment from the study rooms on each side. One library has a dark, scary stairwell with an open area big enough for someone to drop all 5 floors. My kids always insisted on using the elevator in that building, and I don't blame them.

If I have to use the restroom, I have to pack up my stuff and take it with me -- the areas are not secure, and there's no place I can lock things up temporarily. If I need a copy of a journal article for my research, I have to pay $.10 a page -- and if I reduce the size to get two pages of text per copy the print is so small I have difficulty reading it. I spent almost $100 in copying charges related to my Ph.D. qualifying exam. If I had not been able to get many articles online, the cost would have been a lot higher.

I rarely use the library for these reasons. I go in, get what I need, and go home or back to my office, where the chairs are comfortable, the lighting is good, and I can sip a cup of tea while I work.

Putting a coffee bar in my school's libraries would be a marginal improvement, in my opinion. I'd rather see the money spent on making the place look and feel less like a dungeon.

: -- Carol F., Graduate Student (posted 11/21, 10:25 a.m., U.S. Eastern time)

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