Study Space

Need quiet study space?

Some options include:


 * The Library, especially the first and second floors and the Kiva
 * The Airport Lounge
 * Outside!!! (when it's warm/dry)
 * Empty classrooms (FPH almost always has an open room)
 * Merrill House or Dakin House living room
 * Center of Greenwich Donut 1, also known as the Goodread Library
 * The Center for Feminisms in Enfield
 * The QCA in Greenwich
 * The ASH lobby
 * The Bridge cafe
 * Residence hall lounges and common spaces
 * Commuter lounge in the Dakin basement

History
In 1960, the Committee for the New College, which planned Hampshire College, published "Student Reactions to Study Facilities, with implications for architects and college administrators." Sections are excerpted below.

Large versus Small Study Rooms
The most significant finding of all is that for most students, use and approval of study space vary inversely with size. During the four days of recorded study, only 12 per cent of all the studying done took place in the large library reading rooms which exist on each campus; while 56 per cent of it occurred in the two smallest places: dormitory rooms and library carrels. In the opinionnaire, 80 per cent of the students declared these small study spaces were preferable to large; 85 per cent believed that it was desirable to study alone; and only 15 per cent of the students thought it desirable to study where there were 100 students or more. Places of intermediate size were also used and likewise preferred inversely according to their size. The informal comments are difficult to tally objectively and numerically, but they also clearly corroborate the preferences for small study spaces.

The reason for this strong bias against large study places is not mass agoraphobia but simply that distractions arising from other people prove to be the most serious frustrations to good studying, and these distractions increase in proportion to the number of people present. This was make clear by student comments and answers to the opinionnaire. Even under the best of study decorum, there will be more individuals coming and going in a large study hall, more rustling of papers, more coughing, more chair noises, more whispering, etc., etc. Under relaxed study conditions the noise may completely defeat attempts to study for many students. There are occasional students who prefer to study with this kind of noise, or even noise of greater volume and consistency. The vast majority of students, by their behavior and testimony, want as little of it as possible. (p. 9)

A Summary of Findings for the Use of Planners of Study Space
Students are good sources of information about study space, but they should be consulted in some numbers, because a single individual may not be typical.

There is a strong preference for studying in small places where one may study alone or with one or two others. Good lighting is much wanted. Don't spare the wattage, and arrange it so that visibility is at a maximum, and eye strain at a minimum. Heating complaints are mostly of too high temperatures in study halls, particularly in libraries... Some social space should be provided in a dormitory so that those who wish to talk may do so without disturbing those who wish to study. The few students who like to study in the clatter of public social places to the accompaniment of chatter, juke boxes, and food, can be trusted to find their own heart's desire without help from the college. The dream of using empty classrooms and dining halls as study halls is probably a vain hope. Our data indicate that they will be used by only a few students. Places to collect and use study materials are highly prized, and no doubt account in part for the popularity of carrels and dormitory rooms as study places. Open carrels, arranged to reduce visibility, assigned to individuals but permissible to others when not in use, proved popular, especially when well lighted and under conditions of good temperature and ventilation. Variety is needed in types of study space as well as in chairs. There is no place which will be used equally by all... The more colleges tend to develop independence on the part of students and require greater amounts of individual research, the more need there will be for carrels or other small places for study. (p.40-42)