There is only one thing harder than finding a spot on the Downtown Express on Saturday night: finding a spot in Glenn G. Bartle Library during finals week.
Anyone who has tried studying in the library during the past two weeks knows that finding a space to study in, let alone a rare and highly coveted electrical outlet, is nearly impossible. It feels like we spend more time trying to find a study spot than actually studying. Bartle, usually relatively quiet and mostly underutilized, turns into a zoo at the most critical weeks of semester.
We need more space to study and get our work done, and we only need it for the short, stressful period of time when deadlines for tests and papers draw ever nearer. On a campus that is under constant construction, we aren’t advocating for a library expansion or refurbishment. There is a much simpler, more cost-effective way to get students what they need on a temporary basis.
It doesn’t take a lot to create a usable study space. All you really need is a surface, a power outlet and a little quiet. There are ample spaces on campus that fit this criteria, so why not turn these empty rooms into temporary study spaces for the final weeks of each semester?
The school could easily keep the lights on and the doors open in Fine Arts Building, Lecture Hall and the Student Wing. While the majority of these rooms do remain open and unoccupied most of the time, simply advertising these vacant areas as potential study rooms would be a quick, helpful solution. It would just take a simple B-line announcement with a schedule of empty rooms for students to do their work. More study space would relieve some of the stress of finals week by providing a few extra quiet places on campus to cram without having to navigate a labyrinth of overworked students and empty Jazzman’s cups.
It’s great that the Dean of Students Office brings in puppies, occasionally sponsors free coffee and organizes a host of other de-stress events. But when it comes down to it, we need more places to study. There are too many students to all fit in the library at one time, and the population is only going to grow as the school expands. Kids are coming up from Long Island by the truckload, with dreams of making Dean’s List and proving to themselves that all of those AP credits were worth it. How can they do that when every seat in the library is booked?