By Christian Loeffler
After over a year of renovation and expansion, the Latimer Library has begun to open itself to students once more, with a large portion of the main floor made available to students this semester.
This means it’s time for students to decide what they think of it.
“I’ve probably only missed two days since it opened,” said Phillip Costa, biology sophomore, although he explained that he never went into the library until its recent renovation
While Costa said that he enjoys the interior scenery and the architecture of the building, he is also excited for the art gallery to open and add to the aesthetics of the building.
"Nobody really goes up to the art gallery in Carey,” said Costa, “[but having an art gallery in the library could trigger ideas and thought], maybe if you're a writer or just to spark your mind a little bit and see things in a different way.”
Antonia DeBastiani, mathematics and engineering sophomore, said that the library looks really clean cut.
“I like that there are so many windows so that during the day, you get a lot of really nice natural light while you are studying,” she explained.
Thomas Syphan, biochemistry junior, said he finds the use of glass visually appealing.
"I like the fact that they made it look more modern and less like an archive,” he said, comparing the building to Dupre.
Regarding the library, Syphan said he would go "every now and then” before it was renovated but that it wasn’t his favorite place to study and still is not even after the renovation, much preferring Dupre.
"It has some spaces for solo work, but [they’re] still around people. Instead of being in your dorm room all by yourself, you're in a sort of public-ish area with other people." - Antonia DeBastiani
DeBastiani and Costa also stated that they prefer to study elsewhere on campus.
“Sometimes I like that little window nook that's between Wimmer and Alfred,” DeBastiani said. “That one is really nice. I know it's not supposed to be a study area, but I like it.”
DeBastiani said, however, that most of her studying is done in her room.
Costa stated that he typically likes to study in the Alfred Study Center.
While students still seemed to prefer studying in isolation, the environment provided by the library has caused them to begin changing the way they study.
"I love [that] people have respected [the library],” Costa said. "Since it opened, everybody's been flying in and I thought I would hear a lot more talking, but people have been respectful in that they whisper.”
Costa expressed gratitude that, while the new library has more traffic, the building still serves as a more academic hangout when compared to the Carey Center.
"I'm not a big study group kind of guy, but I think I've become that,” he stated.
DeBastiani said that the renovated library has some spaces for solo work, but they are still around people.
“Instead of being in your dorm room all by yourself, you're in a sort of public-ish area with other people,” DeBastiani said. “It makes you feel more motivated to work on stuff."
DeBastiani said she is most excited to see the conference rooms open up since this would allow people in a study area to talk without whispering. She also expressed interest in white boards or white board paint being included in the closed-off rooms.
While students seem to agree that the library’s expansion was worth the wait, some students still had concerns about its current state.
“I lost a flash drive in the library and I haven't found it yet,” said Costa. "It would just be nice if there was a librarian and you could ask them a question."
Costa also stated that having an open library 24 hours a day would be more appealing for long-term studying endeavors.
"I love [that] people have respected it. Since it opened, everybody's been flying in and I thought I would hear a lot more talking, but people have been respectful in that they whisper." - Phillip Costa
DeBastiani commented on the absence of books.
“[Including] books would be nice, any books,” DeBastiani stated “maybe a section that isn't just related to studying subjects, but also leisure books, would be nice."
Syphan noted, "One thing I don't really agree with is the fact that they threw out like 75 percent of the books that they had.”
“I feel like that was a huge waste and, even though we might be moving to a digital society, books are books. You can't just throw them away randomly,” he said. “I was kind of disappointed about the way they handled it."
Regardles, though, Syphan said that for the amount of work that was done on the place, the renovators did a good job of getting it done in a timely manner.
"You can't really argue with the fact that they made the library nicer, but they did dump a lot of money into that,” Syphan stated.
While he has only visited twice, Syphan stated that he will likely give studying in the library a try in upcoming weeks.