Picture this scene. You have two midterms tomorrow and a paper due the day after. You pack your books and tell your roommates that you won’t be back until late. You head to the library feeling proud of yourself that you are finally going to get something accomplished. You get there and walk around for about 15 minutes looking for a seat. You finally see someone about to leave and you rush over.
As soon as you get situated and start to study, the cell phone of the person next to you rings, then a group of four sits behind you and starts talking about their PowerPoint presentation due tomorrow, then two girls storm by complaining about how there are no seats available. Does any of this sound familiar? To many students at Quinnipiac University, it does.
The Arnold Bernhard library is thought of as a place where students can go to get away from their noisy dorms and do their work in silence, but that’s not always the case.
“There are always so many people and even though everyone says it’s quiet, it’s really not,” said Lauren Cullen, a freshman nursing major.
Kristin Smith, a junior media studies major, agreed. “Everyone just talks on their cell phones and on AIM.”
Junior broadcast journalism major Rachel Vaccari claimed to be one of those people. “I’m in the library a lot, and to be honest for the first hour I am there, I just talk to my friends online and play spider solitaire.”
Kristina Branda, a junior public relations major, added her own advice for students seeking a distraction from the noise at the Arnold Bernhard Library: “I always wear my headphones.”
Another problem at the library is space. Even though the library has 600 seats and 13 group rooms, students still find it difficult to find a place to study.
“The library is just not big enough,” said Mitchell Sauerstrom, a junior pre-med/biology major. “You’re so close to everyone and it is always crowded.”
Smith agreed. “There are never any seats!”
Because of the overcrowding and noise in the Arnold Bernhard Library, some students choose to go to the law library.
“The law library is taken more seriously,” said Wesley Kyle, a sophomore pre-med major. “It is always dead silent and I always find a seat.” Although Kyle enjoys studying in the law library, other students have different feelings about it.
“I’ve never been to the law library because it’s just too far away,” Branda said.
Cullen disagreed and said, “It is definitely worth the walk because I can actually hear myself think.”
Sophomore criminal justice major Cori Wilkes claims to dislike the law library. “It is always so quiet that it kind of scares me,” Wilkes said.
Cichon agreed: “I don’t like the law library. I feel that it is very strict.”
For the late-night studier, just remember, the law library closes at 11 p.m. and the Arnold Bernhard Library is now open 24 hours.
