Libraries

Following a three-year construction process, the Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning has officially opened at Barnard College.

It was 8/8/88 when I first walked into the Music Library, which occupied a third of the seventh floor of Dodge Hall. The date was deliberately chosen: Three eights in Chinese numerology mean triple fortune. In my view, adding one more could deliver quadruple fortune. The first collection I walked by, behind the circulation desk, featured the special old books and scores. They were just sitting on open shelves, not overly burdened by protective shelving and with no visible access restrictions. Having just left my position at the Pierpont Morgan Library (now the Morgan Library & Museum) where such materials were kept in vaults, I took a deep breath and moved on to meet the person running the library in the interim.

Considering Columbia’s size and number of academic departments, there’s no shortage of libraries on campus. Sure, Butler may feel like an omnipotent presence, but if you’re willing to do a little exploring you might just stumble upon your new favorite study spot. To save yourself a bit of effort, though, you can look through these reviews of a couple of libraries on campus and hopefully get inspired to branch out beyond Butler.

Considering Columbia’s size and number of academic departments, there’s no shortage of libraries on campus. Sure, Butler may feel like an omnipotent presence, but if you’re willing to do a little exploring you might just stumble upon your new favorite study spot. To save yourself a bit of effort, though, you can look through these reviews of a couple of libraries on campus and hopefully get inspired to branch out beyond Butler.

The First-Generation Low-Income Partnership will look to the University and to donors for more robust support in the form of funding and storage space for its lending library, which moved into Butler Library last year.

When people hear, "It's going to be a ~lit~ night," they don't automatically think of sashaying around with Butler Library's resident dust bunnies in the Rare Book section.