By Sarah Bookstein
Writer
While some students can focus on homework in their rooms, most have favorite alternative spots where they can crack down and hit the books.
Some of us need a cozy, ultra-quiet space with couches and footrests. Others need a secret, secluded study area. Some prefer a space with constant background noise to stay focused. In any case, once a student finds the perfect spot he or she often swears by it and hopes it remains secret.
A go-to study location is Bertrand Library, where every student can find the perfect spot on one of the five different levels. While the library itself is no secret spot, it contains many lesser-known rooms.
An area of the library that is mostly unknown is the map room on Lower Level One. The name of this room may be misleading; while it does have reference maps, it also has a computer table and a comfortable couch.
“I like the East Reading Room on the second floor of the library. I like it because it is quiet, but it is a large room and has big tables to spread out your books,” Emily Baird ’11 said.
One study spot outside the library that often goes unnoticed is The Niche attached to the Seventh Street Café. Though it’s small, it has all the nearby advantages of the café. The Niche is a quieter version of the bustling café and has a few tables and two separate rooms that are closed off from the main room.
Some students have begun to explore the potential of the new Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University bookstore on Market Street. While no longer secret, it is quite a distance from the upper part of campus. This means seniors, many of whom live downtown, often fill the tables at the Starbucks café inside the bookstore.
“The bookstore is easy for seniors because it is downtown. You don’t feel like you’re in a cave, but it is still quiet enough,” Abigail Woodward ’11 said.
Another secret spot is the Willard Smith Library in the Vaughn Literature Building. A student can spread out at one of the many wooden tables and look out the large windows at grassy courtyards. Large bookshelves with reference books weave around the room and create divided nooks for private study spaces.
Perhaps one of the most treasured spots for English majors and students of poetry and creative writing is the Stadler Center. Inside the center of Bucknell Hall is the Mildred Martin Library and Lounge. The mini-library is perfect for reading and has stacks of contemporary poetry books. The environment is comfortable and welcoming, and on rare occasions, professors offer cookies to lucky students.