What your favourite Leeds Uni library says about you

The Leeds Uni library you belong in is the equivalent of houses in Hogwarts


During your time in Leeds, you will have cycled through phases at each of our four libraries, each building has an extremely different vibe and attracts different groups of people.

So, I – a true library connoisseur – have spent many hours studying, and many more hours, people-watching in these iconic buildings, all so that I can compile a definitive list of what your favourite library says about you. I guarantee that this analysis is more accurate than your horoscope, and will forever change your perception of yourself.

Laidlaw

Yes, it’s futuristic, yes it has a café, but is it really a library? If you go there, you’re prone to procrastination and spend the majority of your time staring out of the windows or thinking about what you’ll order from the café. Its gloomy exterior does nothing to compensate; Laidlaw’s brutalist architecture looks as if it was built to make Roger-Stevens look less out-of-place.

If this is your favourite library, I’m sorry, you’re bland. You think ketchup is a seasoning and your favourite colour is grey. I genuinely hope things get better for you.

Health Sciences Library

In contrast to Laidlaw, the Health Sciences Library is the pinnacle of productivity. It houses the future doctors, dentists, and scientists of our generation, working tirelessly through the day.

If this is your favourite library, you are hardworking and ambitious. You started going there out of convenience – it’s close to your lectures and labs, but you stayed for the pained silence of students memorising the Krebs Cycle. You scorn at people who write their lecture titles out in calligraphy and have an air of superiority about you that screams “I have a bullet journal.”

I made the mistake of buying several over-priced coffees from the Worsely café during my time here in first year, but Health Science regulars will be far too wise to succumb to such obvious scams. If this is your favourite library, I bet your handwriting is illegible, and you are highly annoying during exam season, but you have your life together. I respect that.

Brotherton Library

Perhaps the most majestic of all Leeds Uni landmarks. Most students only realise this place exists during the graduation ceremony, but you found this place in first year and now have a dedicated side room to bear witness to all your essay-induced breakdowns.

If this is your favourite library, then you DEFINITELY had a Harry Potter addiction as a child. You bought all the Harry Potter t-shirts from Primark ten years ago and you still boast that Pottermore put you in Ravenclaw. You want to have a dark academia aesthetic and carry around books to show people you read.

Sure, you’re not the coolest or the funniest, but you exude Hermione Granger-esque energy and that is certain to guarantee you a first. Either that or you’re just here because Oxford rejected you, and now you need to surround yourself with books to validate your intelligence.

Eddy-B

Eddy-B is most people’s favourite library as it has something to offer everyone. The peaceful window seats and colour-schemed levels are perfect for both studying and socialising. It is also the most eventful of all the libraries; each floor has observed millennia of student antics, from someone crawling along the ledges of level 12 to the famed retellings of “Floor Flirteen.”

In fact, many attendees are prone to dressing up for their library sessions in the hopes of getting noticed on LeedsFess. Eddy-B’s vivacity is perhaps what makes it so reminiscent of the Leeds Uni experience as a whole and why it is by far the most well-loved of all our libraries.

If this is your favourite library, then you’re probably the popular one in your friendship group. Your confidence lets you make friends with ease and you have a whole flock of people that refer to you as their best friend. You have a good work-life balance, and everyone loves hanging out with you. Maybe you wouldn’t consider yourself cool, but everyone else is thinking it.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

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