For a school with an expansive campus, rigorous academic programs, and a 26-story library, UMass Amherst has a lack of comfortable study spots and 3rd spaces. Overenrollment has led to popular common places to do work or even just hang out becoming overcrowded, leading students to study in their cramped dorms or dining halls.
the w.e.b. worry
Despite the impressiveness of UMass’s massive library, the W.E.B. Du Bois library is not a hot study spot. There are 26 stories, and less than half of them are designated study spots, with even fewer floors dedicated to quiet study, as the majority of the floors are used for office spaces and archives. On top of that, the interior of the library is very isolating, with some study floors only having desks on the perimeter of the floors, with the center filled with walls of books, simultaneously dimly lit while having harsh fluorescent lights on the ceilings.
Other quiet study floors are filled with cubicles under the white ceiling lights, creating an unwelcoming and isolating atmosphere throughout the library. Even the non-quiet study spaces have a similar uncomfortable infrastructure that prevents them from being an ideal group study spot, compared to the libraries at Smith College and Amherst College, which have much warmer lighting and more open space. It is clear from the infrastructure on campus that most studying ideally would be in the library, but the structure’s failure to create a comfortable place to complete work contributes to the 3rd space scarcity on the rest of the campus.
3rd space spill out
Because of the unfavourable aspects of the WEB Du Bois library, many students choose to study in places that are better suited for typical socialising, such as in dining halls, Blue Wall food court, dormitory common rooms, and in and around the Campus Centre and Student Union. I’ve even seen people doing homework in the Rec Centre. This causes overcrowding in an already densely populated university and affects people’s ability to comfortably socialize with their friends in these spaces. This leads to people hanging out in the hills and even in the wooded areas next to their residential areas, which is not ideal, nor physically comfortable, and sometimes inaccessible for many students.
a Student’s solution
It is important to understand what kind of study setting works best for you when looking for an alternative space to get work done. I know that I cannot get work done when I am around my friends, and that I work best in slightly dimmer lighting and a quiet space. When I lived on campus, I would often get much of my schoolwork done in the basement of my dorm, and now that I live off campus, I have found myself gravitating towards other local libraries and small cafes to be productive. It is also important to explore the academic buildings around campus, especially those that are designated to your particular major/study, because many of them will have certain rooms or floors suitable for studying.
a campus’ responsibility
Obviously, the libraries and buildings have already long been built, and tearing them down just to make students more comfortable hanging around is not a feasible idea, but there are efforts the university can make to better utilize space and encourage community building. Hosting and advertising activities with a focus on making friends and socializing, as well as allocating more places to get work done to free up the dining halls, and the student union is a place to start.
As Gen Z is facing a crisis of loneliness and depression, universities are obligated to create infrastructure that promotes both productivity and socialisation, and unfortunately, the UMass Amherst campus is not quite there yet.Â
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