Last fall, Kenyon College transitioned from temporary structures to a new and permanent library: Chalmers. Located in the soon-to-be-finished West Quad, Chalmers has quickly become a central hub for Kenyon students. The new library not only has study spaces, reading rooms, and physical resources, but also houses the Office of Financial Aid, the Office of the Registrar, and the Student Accessibility and Support Services Office, to name a few. With two quiet lower levels underground and four spacious and naturally lit levels above ground, the building was designed for a college campus. But how well has it lived up to expectations and requirements?
A good place to start would be Chalmers’ shortcomings…
Many common complaints regard the reservable study rooms on the library’s third and fourth floors. It is not uncommon to walk by multiple study rooms with a red ‘reserved’ light outside the door of an untouched and empty room, often for hours at a time. While it can be useful to reserve a room ahead of time to make sure you have a space to yourself, if students do not show up to use their room but still have it on reserve, no one else can use it. Many students, myself included, tend to enter empty reserved rooms and hope no one will kick us out. This tactic, while pretty successful, can be stressful and inconvenient. These rooms are useful for taking zoom calls, talking aloud while doing work, and eliminating distractions, but to do those things they need to be available. Not only should students be responsible for when and how often they reserve a room, but ideally we also need more rooms.
That brings me to my next point: while the atrium that runs from Chalmers’ lobby through the fourth floor allows for beautiful natural light, it completely eliminates the use of about a third of the second, third, and fourth floors. Don’t get me wrong; I love natural light, but as the college’s only library, the space does not seem to be maximized as it should. In my opinion, there should be more tables and study rooms where at least part of the wide open atrium is.
Now for Chalmers’ successes…
Kenyon College does not have a student hub as many other colleges and universities of similar size have…at least it didn’t. Now, with its central location and collection of offices, and as the only library on campus, Chalmers has become an integral part of campus life. It’s a place for people to meet up and a place where students can always go. I run into people in Chalmers all the time, and as unplanned interactions and conversations are important parts of college social life, the regularity of those in Chalmers adds to the building’s centrality to campus life.
Chalmers also has ample resources available to the Kenyon community. You can find physical and electronic copies of personal reading books, scholarly books, journals, databases, and course readings, along with archives and special collections. The writing center is also located in Chalmers, as well as a whole host of specialized librarians ready and more than willing to help the community with anything we need.
Like all things, Chalmers Library has its flaws, but the building does not go unused or unappreciated. Chalmers has seen me stressing over tests, laughing with my friends, and asleep between classes. It’s housed countless hours of work and many juicy drama sessions. Everyone has their favorite spot to sit in Chalmers, mine being the chairs on the third and fourth floor opposite the entrance or the multimedia studios. The centrality of the building lends itself to being the heart of campus and a place I love to be.
