The library is by far my favorite space on campus. Some of its features include the Biblio cafe, two spacious quiet areas, a reading room in the shape of a fishbowl, private study rooms that can be reserved, our writing center, our Quantitative Reasoning Center etc.

Day in and day out, a large portion of the school’s population utilizes our library. Therefore you would think, that with so many features and with a high number of daily visitors, that the library would include enough of the spaces that are essential to us not only surviving but thriving. These spaces are bathrooms and water fountains.

About every other day I am in the library, this conversation comes up between me and my peers; “ugh why does the library only have two single user bathrooms on it’s main floor” or “Gee golly gosh my water bottle is out but I really do not want to go downstairs to the basement to fill it up”. I find it ridiculous that Dickinson’s largest study space (an act that usually takes a few hours) can only accommodate the bathroom needs of two people at a time.

I am a Resident Adviser in the residence hall Baird and my floor has a bathroom that allows three people to use it at the same time. In other words, my 30 residents have access to a bathroom that allows for more people to use it than the bathroom on the main floor of the library, an area that can easily see over 100 students studying at a time. The proportion simply is not right. I also do not understand, why the main floor of our library does not have a water fountain.

Staying hydrated is extremely important for our ability to concentrate and access all of the areas of our brain. In case my earlier point has still not gotten across, my residents have access to a water fountain on the floor. Our library is praised for its amount of books, volumes and resources.

It is criticized however, for its lack of facilities that will make our study time much more smoother and efficient. Our library should promote healthy studying habits by installing a multi-user bathroom and a water fountain on the main level of our library.