Here's Why Where You Sit In Bird Library Matters
Photo by Adham Elsharkawi
As the weather changes and our tans disappear, so does our amount of free time. I remember just a couple weeks ago when we were all blissfully unaware of how much work teachers were about to assign us. Even looking them up on RateMyProfessor.com and flipping straight to the assignment page of each syllabus could not have prepared us. If you’re like me, doing work in my own room usually results in reorganizing my closet, rearranging my desk, or falling asleep. So how do I do my work then? Club Bird. Bird Library has helped salvage my grades since freshman year, and will continue to be a safe haven for many freshmen after me.
While studying for my tests, I’ve also been studying the layout and dynamic of Bird Library.
The Basement
Once home to Greek life, after a semester long renovation of building classrooms and adding cubicles the basement seems to have lost its magic. Still, when sitting on this floor, placement is key. It is important to station yourself somewhere with a clear view of the stairs incase you need to prepare/prevent yourself for a stop-and-chat. If you’re looking to be verbally active and easily distracted, this is the place to go. The floor was designed for students who are interested in being sucked into a black hole for the rest of time.
The First Floor
The purgatory of Bird Library. The first floor serves as an “in between” hell for those just passing through and those looking to do a quick group meeting. It also acts as a central meeting location, a quick life organization session, somewhere to copy the homework for the next class, or print something out. Let's get get real, replacing ink in your own printer requires way too much effort.
The café also serves as a productive way to procrastinate by taking a study break to re-fuel when you get too tired from Facebook stalking and online shopping as you glance over your notes every few hours.
Second Floor
Also known as the floor you have to walk through to get to the third floor if you don’t take the elevator. You came here once for a PSY 205 project, and another time during finals week when there was nowhere else to sit. That lion “keep it down to a dull roar” poster in every elementary and middle school library has trained us for this very crucial moment of sitting on the second floor of Bird Library. Talking is acceptable, but no louder than that girl who ate her twin in the womb and sets fires to feel joy from Pitch Perfect.
Since not many people go here, the second floor is a secluded place for one to hide from the world as much as one plans on hiding from their problems.
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The Third Floor
Finding an open table is often times harder than finding genuinely good pizza in Syracuse, or a formal date. Those who sit at the tables not by the walls are the ones who will settle for acceptable, while those who sit by the walls are aggressive and determined, or just got lucky by being in the right place at the right time. Tables by the wall not only have windows for students to overlook the campus or Walnut Park, but also bless students with access to an outlet, a rarity in Bird Library.
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Infested with biddies and bros galore, this floor is almost as much of a scene as Chipotle after a tailgate—overcrowded with a nauseating scent of body odor. Sitting on the third floor means you actually want to do work and focus in a quiet environment, but also want to be seen by this past weekend’s DFMO. Talking is frowned upon unless you have a good piece of gossip, or to tell your study group you found the answers to tomorrow’s test.
Fourth and Fifth Floor
If you breathe too loudly, someone WILL bite your head off. Study time up there is legit.
Sixth Floor
I’m still not sure if this floor actually exists. There have been rumors about this floor has galleries, archives, reading rooms and conference rooms. Basically, the only things on this floor that hold a purpose to students are the bathrooms.
The takeaway from this rant… choose your table wisely. Every cubicle matters.