10 Reasons to Love the Library

I think we take the library for granted sometimes. I have been talking to my friends back home in Norway about our library, and it has made me appreciate it so much more. For the past week I have basically spent all my time in the building of books and concrete, and this blogpost goes out to the library!

 

1)      It’s ALWAYS open! I don’t think UEA students realize how rare this is. A friend of mine studying in Oslo told me her library closed at 5pm. Sometimes I haven’t even started working by then.

2)      There are so many rooms to book. Do you want to be in your own bubble? Have an individual room. Do you need to watch a movie? Have a film viewing room. Do you have a big presentation? Have a group room.

3)      IT help desk. Every time I have gone to the help desk they make everything seem so simple. I remember struggling for a day trying to get my timetable on my smartphone for the IT people to fix it within five minutes. They also have the best banter.

4)      The sheer amount of books. There are so many books. On everything. And if the book is not there as a hard copy, we have e-books. So far in my degree I have bought 1 book.

5)      They actually take suggestions made by students. Apparently library rooms can now be found by using google maps, as the floor plans are added to the application.

6)      The view of the lake! Yes, it is beautiful. And yes, it’s distracting, but my god it’s worth it. The sunsets you can see from the library are worth the effort of being there.

7)      You are never alone! It’s nice to know that you’re not the only one struggling to write your dissertation, understand philosophical ideas or write a scientific report. We are all in this together!

8)      Did you know that for the last 12 months of your degree you can not only take out 8 books from the library, but 15? This change was made to help those writing their dissertation (I am one of these people currently).

9)      It is close to so many places where you can get food and coffee. Do not underestimate the power of brain food. Or chocolate. Or whatever floats your boat. After spending hours and hours in the library, maybe pulling an all nighter, food and coffee are necessary to keep your spirits up!

10)   You ALWAYS know someone in the library. Coursemates, friends, people you’ve only met in the LCR: they are all student. They all have to study. Statistically speaking (without doing the math) there are always people you know in the library.

Writing this post has actually made me more excited about going back to the library now. The first draft of my dissertation is due on Monday, and I have around 1500 words left to write. Looking forward to see all of you there!

Xx

Guro,