The ultimate showdown: where is the best place in the library?

Social Study

If you’ve got headphones in, it’s basically a less stressful version of the Abercromby wing. You can eat crisps in peace, gaze out the window at the sun longingly and you’re not too far from the water fountain. There’s also little chance of your stuff getting moved and you most definitely won’t get a horrifying warning if you leave for 10 minutes. The downside is that obnoxious people who would rather pretend to work than do anything productive migrate here to watch Netflix, play games and take up whole isles talking to each other.

Grove Wing

Grove Wing ground floor

This is a hidden gem. You walk into the library and usually turn left either round the corner to social study, or up the stairs. But the ground floor grove wing on the right is the most peaceful and private of the grove wings. This area is usually dominated by post grads but that makes it the perfect place to study if you really need to concentrate because they’re all so serious and focused. Everyone here actually obeys the rules of it being a ‘quiet’ zone. No knob heads socialising here. Plus, if you get bored you can take a break playing hide and seek in the moving bookcases. Yeah, there aren’t any plugs at the window seats, but technology is overrated.

Grove Wing First Floor

Nothing can beat the people’s favourite: Grove Wing Floor One. Yes it may be packed, yes it may require getting up at 9am for a seat, and yes, it’s full of people making loads of unnecessary noise but who cares? All the books you ever need are here and you’re never far from someone who will come for a revision break cig. If you sit by a window, no one can distract you and you can fall asleep/knuckle down in peace and serenity. There’s a reason why it’s so busy, and that’s because it’s the best. Simple as.

Grove Wing second Floor

The cooler, more alternative sister of the Grove Wing: here, there are less people, less noise and it’s easier to find a seat. It’s often full of third years working their asses off to finish their dissertation in time and you will get the biggest side eye of your life if you make any loud movements here. It’s peaceful, yet judgemental. It’s also so far away that any temptation of a cig break is put off, you’re more productive here. Remember: the library police love roaming around here, so if anyone is bothering you, give them a nudge in the right direction and they’ll be sorted out.

Abercromby Wing

Abercromby Wing second floor

It’s a trek to get to but that’s what makes it great because no one else can be arsed going up the four flights of stairs to reach it. The Abercromby Wing is way less mainstream than the Grove Wing so there’s always way more seats available. Supposedly it’s the Law students wing but why do they get a whole wing when the rest of humanities (and mischievous science students, stick to your own fucking library) have to share the rest? As a silent study area, people can’t get away with a word up here so you can bitchily text the library your complaints.

Abercromby Wing first floor

This spot is for “Quiet” study not “silent”, so there is some faint chit chatter from those who dare. The Abercromby first floor is the best place to revise. It’s quiet, out of the way, and full of sunlight. Why work in the nuclear bomb shelter that is Grove Wing when you can bask in the sun of Abercromby. Unlike the second floor, the first floor is a place where you can feel free of judgment when you eat noisy food or fancy a chat, and with picturesque views of Abercromby Square, what more could you ask for? It also has less stairs than the second floor, and who really needs stairs when the history if the Soviet Union needs attending to?