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We spent 24 hours in the Robbo and still don’t understand the floorplan

A traumatising quest for sleep


As first year media students, we fortunately have little reason to visit the Robbo. However, with nothing else to do on a Wednesday, we decided to skip a night out at Tiger Tiger and make the most of the 24 hour library, and maybe even get some work done? Here's how it went.

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Big up Room 431 x

12pm– Despite preparing very little for this challenge, we arrived at the Robbo naively optimistic, ignoring the outraged response of our friends. Having found an empty study room which would be our home for the next 24 hours, we made a plan to be productive and set out to get stuff done.

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3pm– We were off to a solid start work-wise, but without the pressure of any real looming deadlines and a further 21 hours left to go, we soon got distracted. The whiteboard in our study room provided us with some light entertainment, but after probably a bit too much hangman and pictionary, we got back down to essay writing.

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5:30pm– Already super bored, we went on an adventure to scout out the optimal place to sleep. After testing nearly every chair in the library, we discovered empty booths by the windows which although were comfy, but they didn’t allow us stretch out so we decided to return to our trusty study room.

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6:30pm– Having not brought any snacks of our own, we went down to the cafe where a classic meal deal provided our dinner.

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8pm– By 8pm we were done with work for the day and were going a bit stir crazy. Avoiding the judgy eyes of the many people still trying work, we walked around a bit, and after getting bored of just balancing books on our head, decided to actually give them a proper look. A bit delirious by now, we used the time to learn about Roman wine (and definitely found the amount of books on soil a bit too funny).

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A masterpiece

9:30pm– It got a little weird here. Reason unknown, we thought it would be fun to build a book fort. Whilst this started as a subtle mission to grab a few books here and there, we were eventually grabbing armfuls of whatever was nearest to us. With one stressed boy watching us very suspiciously, we managed to build two very risky piles, only for one to collapse and come crashing down. A horrified librarian did pop her head round the door and ask if we were okay, but she swiftly left.

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A taco BELLE

11:00pm– By the time we had disassembled our fabulous book arch and put all the books back exactly where where we found them, food was definitely needed. Delivered straight to the Robbo doors, Deliveroo was the obvious choice! We settled down to a feast of Taco Bell in a booth on the first floor.

12:30am– By now the library was mostly quiet so we explored some more. We were hoping to discover some weird cult that secretly took place late at night but, to our disappointment, we can confirm not much actually changes in the Robbo after dark. Now regretting our lack of preparation and considering chickening out, we conveniently found a blanket left lying around which encouraged us to head back up to get some sleep.

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1am – Returning to our homely study room, we put on an episode of Always Sunny in hopes that it would ease us into a peaceful sleep. We were sadly wrong. Our once comforting room had now become unbearably warm and we were in desperate need of a new space.

2am – We migrated from room to room, yet sadly found they were either too warm, too cold, or worse, too exposed. After much debate, we decided it would be best to return to our secure spot for the night and put up with the heat.

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#SingleNotSorry

5am – To our surprise, our sleep was fairly pleasant and would have probably lasted a lot longer if a librarian hadn’t woken us up and firmly told us about the library's non sleeping rule. I’m sorry, but what?!

Now homeless, cold and frankly quite scared, we wandered the barren library in need of a new place to settle. After wandering for what felt like hours, we set up camp in the pods outlooking the front of the library, desperate to soak up a little more sleep before the sun rose.

8am – The library was starting to fill up and neither of us were in any condition to face a mass of eager students. To prevent Grace from throwing a tantrum, we ventured downstairs to get breakfast and down some coffee. Having never been in the library this early, we were pleasantly surprised at the delicious selection. If it wasn’t for the ham and cheese toasties, I don’t think we would have gone on.

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8:30 am – Feeling a little gross, we were grateful to have packed our toiletries with us. We headed to the second floor toilets to freshen up. We got some dodgy looks, but at this point we were pretty much numb to embarrassment.

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9am – Three hours left in what now felt like home. Inspired by the early risers we decided to bash out a little bit of work before we could leave. As expected, we soon gave up and sat in silence, fairly traumatised by our experience.

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12am – After only whispering for 24 hours, we were unable to speak at a normal level, but never have we been so happy to embrace the coldness of the Toon!

We can’t lie, we certainly didn’t leave the Robbo feeling accomplished and inspired. We’re probably more confused than ever about the floorplan and have absolutely no intention of ever returning. Worst part is, we have no-one to blame but ourselves.