As Northwestern students abandon the outdoors and flock to the libraries, one great question emerges: is there a study space that rises above the rest? Gabby Shell sat down with three Northwestern students to find the answer.
This story originally aired as part of our WNUR News Touches Grass Special Broadcast.
WNUR may be touching grass tonight, but as the temperatures drop and the endless midterm season blends into finals prep, Northwestern students are abandoning the green for the gray walls of Northwestern’s libraries.
From the hallowed halls of Deering to the late-night buzz of Mudd, there are so many study options it can almost be paralyzing. You have to weigh the ambience, the walk time, whether you’re going solo or with friends—it’s a big decision, I know. Is there one place on campus that rises above the rest, a tried and true study spot that students come back to over and over again?
To find the answer, I sat down with some Northwestern library aficionados and discussed the pros and cons of each.
[Natural sound: door opening]
[Natural sound: Mudd library noises]
[Gabby Shell] All right. Okay, is everybody ready?
[Multiple Voices] Yeah.
[Shell] Okay. Why don’t we start by going around and—introduce yourself, your major, and then how much time you spend studying each week?
[Nina Gupta] Okay, I’m Nina. I’m undecided in Weinberg, but I’m studying something in the stem field and I would say I spend around, maybe seven or eight hours a week studying.
[Sunny Batra] Hi, I’m Sunny. I’m studying biomedical engineering in McCormick and I probably spend like 10 hours a week.
[Sophia Masterson] I’m Sophia. I’m also studying biomedical engineering in Mccormick. I think with midterms my studying has gone up, so I would say I’m hitting around 8 hours a week, but that’s not every week.
[Shell] Okay, more than me. All right. So, where do you do the most work? Like, is there a particular place on campus that you’re the most productive?
[Gupta] I think it depends because I normally base my studying schedule around, like, the location of my classes. So, sometimes I’ll go to, like, Tech before I have a class there and I’ll study in Tech Express, but most of the time I’ll study at night and I’ll go to Mudd because it’s close by.
[Batra] Yeah, I also study based on where, like, my last location of class was, like, if I’m South Campus, I’ll go to Norris or Main, but if I’m in North Campus, I’ll probably just come to the dorm and study in the lounge.
[Shell] Yeah.
[Masterson] I really love going to Mudd, I think it’s great. It’s super close and it’s, like, the most modern, which is nice, but I do like studying at Main and at the cafe in Main. It’s so cute. I love sitting there. But also when the weather is nice, I love studying outside. Like, a couple days ago, it was really warm and sunny—maybe a week ago or so—but it was super nice just to sit because there’s WiFi everywhere sitting by the lake and studying. Obviously that’s going to change now that it’s, like, getting colder. I’m excited for spring semester when it gets nice again.
[Shell] So, out of all of them, what would you say your favorite place is, orlike the best place to study is?
[Masterson]I would say Mudd. It’s the most practical, I think, for a lot of us because we’re so close.
[Batra] Yeah, I don’t like leaving anywhere. So I like sitting in the lounge here the most. Like, the lake lounge with my lap desk. I love the big windows.
[Shell] This is in Lincoln, by the way.
[Gupta] Honestly, I’d probably say Main because I feel like there’s that little wing in, like, the core area which is nice. Also because it’s not, like, completely silent there and I’m not afraid to, like, move around, which is how I feel whenever I go to Deering.
[Masterson] Oh my god, I’ve only been there once. I really thought I was going to be spending all my time there, like, oh, it’s so aesthetic. I just never, I never go over there. It’s so silent—I feel like when I walk in I’m just—
[Gupta] Yeah
[Batra] Yeah
[Shell] It feels like there’s a lot of pressure to be, like, very academic when you’re there.
[Batra] Totally.
[Shell] It distracts from the studying.That kind of leads me into my next question, which is like the stereotypes around each of the libraries. Like Deering, I think, is obviously the most hardcore studying and the other two are a bit more social.
[Batra] Yeah, more collaborative spaces in the other two libraries, for sure.
[Masterson] I mean, especially, like Mudd has the study rooms that people always book out and study together.
[Batra] They’re, like, booked out months in advance.
[Masterson] Yeah you can’t get those rooms, but Deering is so silent. I mean, I think that it’s the prettiest one, I just never go there. It’s like, very studious.
[Gupta] Yeah, no, I kind of feel like Mudd is coined as, like, the STEM library because I feel like there’s a lot of collaborative work there and also it’s attached to Tech so it’s, like, convenient.
[Shell] All right, so, I mean, do you think that if you, like, want to go and hardcore study, would you go to Maine or Mudd?
[Masterson] For me, I would say Mudd, just because I can stay later because it’s so close. I don’t, like, have to start walking back earlier.
[Gupta] Yeah. Also, if you study at night then it’s more convenient to go, like, close by.
[Batra] I like studying in Main way more than Mudd, personally. I feel like people are too intense in Mudd. Mudd definitely is more, like, modern, but, like, that kind of creeps me out a little. It’s intimidating to me to be in, like, such a modern space. I like the library feel of Main more because, like, there’s no books in Mudd. It doesn’t feel like a library.
[Masterson] You can’t really call it a library, it’s more like a study space.
[Batra] Yeah, so that’s why I prefer sitting in Main for any hardcore studying.
[Batra] That’s another thing about Main: there’s lots of resources in Main, like the tech center which has been really useful and you can check out loaner laptops, which we both needed this quarter, so that’s actually been really useful. Main has a bunch of copiers and printers and also, like, desktops.
[Batra] I like studying in Norris because of the access to food and drinks.
[Masterson] Oh, I like that too.
[Shell] Yeah, but I feel like I can’t study in, like, the dining area.
[Batra] Yeah, I always go up a floor.
[Shell] That’s, like, very social.
[Masterson] Yeah, I kind of don’t like it. Okay, this is, like, an unpopular opinion, but when I’m in Norris and I’m by myself, I feel so weird, because everyone’s, like, not by themselves, so I just, like, can’t really study there unless I’m with people.
Well, it seems like there is no one best place to study, but that’s the beauty of Northwestern. Every kind of student can find a place to study that best fits their needs—and maybe even one that lets them touch some grass.
That’s all for tonight. For WNUR News, I’m Gabby Shell.
