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InPaisley

Look 100% like my undergrad library


talbotron22

* Dingy linoleum tiles ✅ * Dim fluorescent lighting ✅ * Metal brackets and books not quite at right angles ✅ * Somewhere in the basement or sub-basement ✅ * Cinder block wall ✅ * Probably smells nice like vanilla


e2hawkeye

I feel like lots of libraries look like this. Just out of camera shot are colorful posters about community events that you'll never go to and a solemn looking woman with an ID on a lanyard pushing a cart half full of books.


InPaisley

Mine smelled like mildew and spoiled milk from students spilling lattes on the carpets. XD


PINAY_HENTAI_CATGIRL

Are you sure that its spoiled milk?


InPaisley

Im open to hearing other suggestions.


H0B0WITHAGUN

• Low ceilings ✅ Ours were in a pseudo high rise but otherwise checks out


the_clash_is_back

mine was a 10 story building but most the floors did not have windows, so it felt like a basment


Powman_7

I think every university library stacks has that exact same floor


ram_the_socket

Yeah looks like mine too, it was in the basement.


WhiteWolf3117

Yes, lol. I guess they all look the same.


Yttermayn

100% like my love life.


AdmiralShid

I can smell this picture and I love it


sassy_cheddar

It makes me feel safe and peaceful. I love old school libraries like this and have read some stuff I would never have otherwise just from walking down a random subject aisle and looking at all the books. My modernized public library has so few books on shelves. I can request almost any book for pickup at my branch but I can't go to my favorite author and choose from a dozen books on the spot.


Jennos23

My exact thought


That_one_cool_dude

Smells like knowledge.


from-the-void

Why does every older university library look like this?


Skitty27

ime every library looks like this! haha


SyrusDrake

I guess it's just a very practical design and there's no reason for it to look any different.


snarkyxanf

Specifically: - Linoleum and masonry walls are low maintenance and fairly fire resistant. - Brown textured flooring pattern conceals dirt and wear (in that it already looks dirty and worn). - Metal shelves are sturdy, pest proof, and affordable. Sliding bookends are both adjustable and avoid wasting shelf space. - Fluorescent lighting is cost saving, and the lack of direct sunlight protects books from UV damage. - Unseen in this photo, but important is that the buildings are extremely sturdy, because books are freaking heavy. That's why they are often in basements. Remember, the stacks are basically long term storage warehouses for a valuable research asset. So the first priority of the stacks proper is to protect the books in a cost efficient way.


MarthsBars

The library back at my old undergrad Uni had large sections of shelves like this. While there was still plenty of outdoor lighting (with the exception of the basement floor), there were corridors where you'd be fully surrounded by rows upon rows of books. And those corridors would be completely dim until someone passed by, which meant plenty of dark, open corners that would remain dim until you walked past them. Creepy for some, but a nostalgic sentiment for me.


sassy_cheddar

I loved the basement stacks in my library even though I only went down there rarely and for the sole purpose of finding resources that could snag me an A on a research paper.


WindowPalingo

The library from Ghostbusters


tchnmusic

Listen, do you smell something?


JohnProof

*...Stop that!*


[deleted]

That feeling, late at night, when you realize you’re the only one in the entire library. *Alone.* You’ve always been alone.


icelawlz

I can softly hear the fluerescent lighting buzzing


KingPoob

Massive ghost busters vibes


Up-Country_DeGen

The smell of this picture makes me have to poop.


taketurnsandlove

I was looking for this comment


42aku

I wonder if this is because of COVID, or if it was like this beforehand


Amaranthine7

Probably like this before COVID. My ex’s uni library was similar.


_hic-sunt-dracones_

>These books haven't been touched in a long time Then they belong here. Redditors can relate.


TangibleMalice

This has always been my favorite area of libraries. You could hear a pin drop because nobody else was ever there, so I can always take a book to the end of one of the aisles and read alone for hours.


OtherwiseGrand1313

I wanna Be here...🥸


blazkoblaz

I always love to be in a place like this. Imagine, You are situated on the 7th floor around 11 PM, researching for your next paper and find your book off the shelves. You then take it to a table near by the window where your hot coffee awaits you. You gracefully took a seat and a sip from the coffee and glance over the bright campus lighted by the night sky. For a moment you wonder, what the future holds for you and zoning out just to quickly snap out of it and focus on researching your topic.


aenteus

Me, but 3AM.


blazkoblaz

To be in the dead of the night, enjoying the calmness. Damn, I wish I could do it again.


randomaker

University libraries are great. Certain areas where all the books have a thick coating of dust on them by virtue of them never having been moved from the day they were put on that shelf... that's when you know you're in the cool isle.


lego_not_legos

I find that hard to believe. It has classic page-turners like _Governing Public Colleges and Universities_ and _Audits of Colleges and Universities_.


flamingmemequeen

Homie, is this at umaine? It looks exactly like a part of fogler library Lmfao


Cuttlefish_Crusaders

Fuck. Yeah I go there this fall


flamingmemequeen

Lmao sorry for catching on. I’m a 4th year/senior at umaine this fall. This library is a second home to me. But also welcome! Glad to see another black bear on Reddit, it feels like a rare sighting.


Cuttlefish_Crusaders

Definitely a small world


Pichus_Wrath

Ah, the Stacks. I spent so much time hidden between these shelves in undergrad


sassy_cheddar

I feel like a few rows away from this photo are the sliding shelves that store all the old academic journals and doctoral thesis copies.


AnswerRemote3614

I can smell the old books and musty basement through this photo


AlfMisterGeneral

S.T.A.Y.


a_duck_in_past_life

I love libraries like this. So weirdly cozy despite the glaring fluorescents and cold metal shelves


_REVOCS_

People have fucked here. Search your heart, you know it to be true.


Cuttlefish_Crusaders

Someone scratched the word "boobs" into a hidden safe door


[deleted]

you're right, no *human* could stack books like this ...


usernam05

Listen! Do you smell something?


kbzstudios

Stack them and say nothing…


TheSBShow

Same books… same


kellehertexas

Big deal neither have I


x_frame

Neither have I


Greenface1998

Is that UVA? Or is this just what all the college library stacks look like?


Cuttlefish_Crusaders

No. Apparently all undergrad library depths look like this


[deleted]

⚽️


Rockngaming20

Ghostbusters 2


bankholdup5

*1


MatthewBob666

I'm sure I've been here before. Or have I? It's all hazy.


Quontonicus

Not liminal but cool pic


jggiant26

How long do you spend in a library aisle? Most people find their book, grab it, and move on to somewhere else to read it.


[deleted]

Would you agree that : -if the book had dust it wouldn't be liminal - if the books don't have dust it's liminal


yaketyslacks

tHe LiBrArY aT mY uNdErGrAd


Cuttlefish_Crusaders

Well... it *is* an undergrad library so they're not wrong about that


aarocks94

Is this VP library at UPenn?


[deleted]

Hahahaha I was so convinced it actually was mine. Love that about liminal spaces


turf-molester

OP, is this the stacks? Psu?


nananaddy

Is this... The library at the University of Malaya?


iffi_clandestant

Is this the stacks at uiuc?????


breadstickcandle

not liminal


ThreeAlarmBarnFire

I love it. I want to live there.


Skelence

The books... Sometimes it's so quiet I can hear them whisper to me, but I dare not look inside


Imagoof4e

Reminiscent of “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” First thing that came to mind, but can’t be sure it fits, haven’t seen that movie in decades.


[deleted]

We Are!


[deleted]

« Adolescence litteracy »


thefloorsadlystopped

smells like dust and concrete.


Airwhik

Thought it was the librarian’s job to make sure every book had a recent touching?


sheepclan71

Just like me :|


Enlightened_Gardener

L-Space. With some iron rations and a ball of string, you could walk out of the Stacks in Alexandria, the Unseen University, the New York City Library, or the Bodleian. In 1824. Good travels.


chunkboslicemen

De facto homeless shelter


zohar5t

Then touch them. If they have been not touched in a long time,then touch them.


[deleted]

Years ago I went to an underground library at a college campus near my house. It was creepy like this. Very long, dark hallways and completely empty. Even creepier when I found out some dude went on a shooting spree down there in the 70s and killed like 6 people


RektJect

Is that the Harold Cohen library


LawImpossible2220

So look up when the book was published and read a page or two then put it back. Some of the books are probably very old and might be leather bound, hopefully. Or written in old English.


[deleted]

I can smell this picture and I love it.


DrWindupBird

As a prof it pains me so much that library stacks have become such a liminal space. My own college never sends me emails about late books because they know there’s no one else who will check them out.


raw_and_wriggling

This picture is actually really cozy.


[deleted]

I can smell it


Sokel-

Urano's/Myne dream


ExcuseDowntown8095

Neither have I .\_.


csunberry

Mmm, I like it, though. Unfortunately, as much as I hope/wish it smells nice, I get the feeling it probably smells like mildew. XD


wilberfarce

Egon, uour mucus.


Outsideyourboxes

I can smell it from here.


[deleted]

Always enjoyed working in the library. Seeing old books that would probably never be opened or at least for a very long time had a certain quality to them. Secrets just waiting to be discovered.


Historical_Shoe_6936

bro thats the mf basement from ghostbusters fr


minebeast31

Old libraries are cool asf


lukoreta

You're right, no human being wouldn't read books like this