The academic library for which I work has embarked on an ambitious program of building renovations, extensions and new construction. We need storage space for our ever-growing collections, but more than that we need a variety of study spaces for scholars.
Undergraduate students use the library for collaborative group work during semester as they work on problem-solving and team-based assignments. Towards assessment time, individual study is preferred.
Research students look for quiet spaces where they can safely leave a couple of books and a laptop while they browse the shelves or take a break from reading and writing. Academic staff in the humanities and social sciences tell us they want similar quiet spaces in the library; academics in other disciplines tend to use their offices or other locations for study. Retired academics would also appreciate this type of space: retirement doesn’t mean the end of intellectual life.
Like most academic libraries we have a ‘special collections’ reading room where accredited researchers can view rare or ancient books, manuscripts and other items.
The NewYork Public Library operates what NY Observer journalist Molly Young calls the city’s last silent place, the Allen Room, a hush-hush space on the second floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (formerly the New York Public Library main branch) on Fifth Avenue:
“I wish there were more drama,” said [author] Alexander Rose, “but it’s convivial and collegiate. There’s no Norman Mailer trying to kill his wife in here. No tension, no melodrama.” … Founded in 1958 as a tribute to Frederick Lewis Allen, the historian and editor of Harper’s Magazine, the room serves as a workspace to a rotating group of authors. Rubberneckers take note: The door is locked at all times, and access is restricted to those who have book contracts, a photocopy of which must accompany requests for a key card. “It’s like Aladdin’s cave,” Mr. Rose said of the room, which he heard about through the literary grapevine. “I looked it up, and it actually did exist.”
