Third in a four-part series examining various facilities of Boston University.
Although many Boston University students do their class work in dining halls, the George Sherman Union, study lounges or in the privacy of their own rooms, others believe the school’s many libraries are the best place to hit the books or write their papers.
BU’s library system, which contains more than 2 million volumes, has four main facilities: Mugar Memorial Library, Pappas Law Library, the School of Theology Library and the Alumni Medical Library, located on Concord Street.
Mugar, located next to the GSU, is one of the better known libraries on campus and houses several branches within it, such as the Music and African Studies libraries. Along with its 377,000 volumes, 20,800 serials and 2.7 million microform units, the library also has 130 electronic subscriptions that make 12,000 journals available.
In addition to the main libraries, BU also offers a number of other, more specialized libraries. For example, the College of Arts and Sciences houses the Astronomy and Stone Science libraries and is one of about 20 campus buildings that contain libraries. Most of the smaller libraries, however, have limited hours and are closed on holidays, such as Veterans’ Day.
Even though many students did not realize they had so many options, others, such as CAS junior Andrew Gehrke, vaguely knew about the availability.
‘I did know there were a lot, but I do not know where any of them are,’ Gehrke said. ‘I know they exist, but I wouldn’t be able to give you directions to any of them.’
Most students who use the libraries said they need to escape distractions in their rooms or study lounges.
‘I live off campus in a house with six other guys,’ Gehrke added. ‘It’s impossible to do work, with television and PlayStation 2, people coming in and out of my room. It drives me crazy. I come here to seclude myself.’
Vanessa Monopoli, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior, was the only person doing work Tuesday night in the Pickering Educational Resource Library, located in the basement of the School of Education. Monopoli also said she likes to go to libraries to escape distractions.
‘No one knows about it,’ said Monopoli. ‘I’m not likely to run into anyone I know. I try to remove myself from something more interesting.’
According to the libraries website, BU is one of 124 members of the Association of Research Libraries. The school was also fundamental in founding the Boston Library Consortium, which promotes interaction between 19 New England libraries.
A wireless network allows students to access the internet on their laptops in areas of Mugar, the Science and Engineering Library, the Photonics Center, the School of Management and the law library.
But School of Engineering senior Olga Livchak said the Ethernet outlets located at each workstation in SMG’s Pardee Library are just as convenient a way to connect to the internet as wireless.
‘Where I live [the Cooperative House at 191 Bay State Road], I have dial-up, so I come here to download documents,’ she said.
While some students said they visit a library a few times a week and for just a couple hours per visit, CAS junior Jen Roberts has taken library use to a new level. Roberts said she goes to the library every day depending on whether she has to go to work that day.
Studying on the fourth floor of Mugar Tuesday, Roberts was surprised to realize it was 9 p.m. she had already been there six hours. But she said she enjoys Mugar more than others and regularly goes there for long stretches of time.
‘Yeah, I’ve been to Science and [the College of Communication libraries] and others, but Mugar gives me a place to hide,’ she said. ‘Others are smaller, and you can’t escape if others are doing work.’
COM sophomore Debbie Keene did not share the same appreciation for Roberts’ workspace, saying she did not like the environment of Mugar’s fourth floor.
‘Have you seen Mugar on the fourth Floor? That’s creepy,’ Keene said. ‘Cages, concrete floors, really cold. Creepy.’
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