Opinion: The Etiquette of Study Rooms
If you wander around campus, there are also plenty of quiet corners with comfy chairs that are perfect for studying.
Beatley Library, 2022.
March 1, 2023
When the Beatley Library at Simmons University was renovated, additional private study rooms were made available to Simmons students. These study rooms are available for students to reserve throughout the day and some can fit up to eight people. But are there enough of these study rooms on campus?
The library has 20 study rooms, ranging in size, available for students to reserve and use. According to the Simmons University website, the school is “home to 1,690 undergraduate students and 4,620 graduate students.” Combined, this totals over 6,000 students.
20 study rooms for over 6,000 students does not seem like enough, but when I walk through the library, I often see study rooms that are not in use. In these cases, students can scan the QR code that is posted outside the study room and book the room for up to three hours.
But what if you find an empty study room, scan the QR code, and see that the study roomis already reserved? Students could try to find a different empty, unreserved study room, but this sometimes proves difficult as students book out rooms for large chunks of time in advance.
This brings up the question of whether or not it’s okay for students to book out a study room for almost the entire day. Personally, I think if you’re going to use it for the entirety of the reserved time, why not? If not, though, maybe hold off on booking the same room everyday.
Another option is to use the study room and hope that you avoid the awkward encounter of being kicked out by the student who had it reserved. In this situation, I usually get up, apologize at least twice, and scramble to collect my things and get out of the room.
It is, arguably, more awkward when you have to kick someone out of the study room you booked. You run the risk of walking in on someone in the middle of a phone call or conversation with friends to say “hi, I have this room reserved,” only to stand awkwardly on the other side of the glass wall and watch as the person who was previously using the room does their best to quickly leave.
In the case that you can’t find a study room, such as during finals week, there are always alternative study spaces. The library also has a 24-hour silent study room. Empty classrooms are a great place to study with friends or classmates. If you wander around campus, there are also plenty of quiet corners with comfy chairs that are perfect for studying.
While more study rooms couldn’t hurt, Simmons has plenty of spaces for students to study without disruption. If you prefer the private study rooms, though, make sure to book them ahead of time.
Magenta Jasinski • Mar 6, 2023 at 12:05 pm
Solid opinion! As a grad student who loves to use the group rooms and has used one for a job interview, I find that going at quieter times (early afternoon or morning) usually means it’s less crowded.
Scott Tougas • Mar 2, 2023 at 2:44 pm
Thank you for writing this article. As the Manager of AV Systems, I pay a lot of attention to how these rooms are used. It is useful to consider that the study rooms are actually called Group Study Rooms. They are a good place for students to talk and colaborate without bothering others. They also have the video displays, so that a group can all look at a screen together. If a group is going to use it for the entire day, then booking it for that long would be a good use of the space. On the other hand, if a single person is going to book it for a long stretch, than it really limits the options that groups have. If you really want to dive into the subject, another entire article could be written on the effectiveness of group study.