I will buy you Pinkberry if you can tell me where the Southern Regional Library Facility is.
Chances are that you haven’t actually taken the dubious trail away from Hedrick Court to this hidden library.
“No one ever really goes there … it’s kind of random. I think it’s some kind of sorting facility,” said Robert Creighton, a third-year English student who goes there regularly.
When you think of a library here at UCLA, the mind naturally gravitates to Powell, but there are several others, each with its own vibe.
Visiting various libraries isn’t only a matter of taking in the beat of different departments. It can also be a practical way of protecting your study space against the staleness that can come with consistency.
While Powell may be the library featured on postcards and in tours, it isn’t always the best place to study.
Let’s be honest, there are more people sleeping at Powell during the daytime than actually studying.
And no one can blame us because the building actually has beds in it (go to the underground book stacks if you don’t know what I’m talking about).
This is the popular destination for Bruins when they set out to study on campus, sort of like how millions of Polaroid-armed tourists flock to the Eiffel Tower every day and forget that there exists, in the same city, a Montmartre or even a Musée d’Orsay.
At least there might be some sort of excuse for hugging close the Eiffel Towers and the Big Bens of the world due to their history and fame, but not when we do the same on our own campus.
We cannot be limited by the bricks and bells of Powell.
Speaking to one of my friends who is bordering on bibliophile status, I was extremely surprised to hear him complain of how there are no novels to be found on campus.
Well sure, if you plan on finding “Dune” at Powell, give up now because it is at Young Research Library with most of the other recreational reading material.
“I had no idea YRL had novels,” said Rohan Kundargi, a second-year geology student, “I’ve never even been there.”
That is probably because it is kind of a creepy place to study, with its furniture and architecture that still embody the 1960s and its desks somewhat hidden as if they were eternal Easter eggs.
If you’re looking for something more appallingly quiet, try weaving your way through your fellow undergraduates and head to the Management Library or the Law Library (both open to undergraduates).
Extremely functional in that do-not-disturb kind of a way, these lesser frequented libraries are not only easy on the eyes but also full of that rare and intimidating specimen: the grad student.
Another road less travelled may lead you to the Arts Library.
“I like the (Arts Library) a lot. It’s pretty small and out of the way, has good hours, is located right by the people who would use it most, and has a pretty substantial selection from what I’ve seen,” said Elliott Kaplan, a third-year art student.
Just like we value finding the underground tunnels or sneaking into the pool at Sunset Recreational Center after hours, studying in different libraries is such an easy way to become acclimated to the different cultures of the campus.
For example, every time I walk through the medical complex seeing all the young medical students in their scrubs, it makes me (even though I would rather eat my hand before taking chemistry) kind of suddenly want to be pre-med.
We have four tiny years here at UCLA, and library hopping would be a great way to experience a kind of intellectual osmosis, seeping in the cultures of the different departments on campus.
It might be fun to switch off identities, pretend you’re actually pouring through books about Dadaism on your way to becoming a starving artist in Paris or memorizing facts that are going to help you save a life on an operating table one day.
Even if it is just notes from Introduction to Statistics, no one’s going to know.
E-mail Joshi at rjoshi@media.ucla.edu if she owes you Pinkberry.
Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.