I've been a little bit under the weather recently and have spent a lot of the last week in bed, rather than exploring the world of libraries, but I'm feeling better now, so it's time for library number 3, in which I leave the Sidgwick Site comfort zone, and branch out to see what else Cambridge has to offer. The subject matter, on the other hand, is still reassuringly familiar.
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| Cambridge is pretty |
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| A world away from the Sidgewick site |
This unassuming little library tucked away in Free School Lane is a far cry from the open spaces of the History and Law libraries. It caters for a smaller number of students and consequently doesn't have as much desk space, although there are still plenty of books.
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About as modest as any library gets
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| Slightly strange hole in the floor, because why not |
I was signed up for borrowing rights by one of the friendliest, most enthusiastic librarians I have yet encountered in Cambridge. You can borrow books for four days and renew them up to four times. After being subject to the totalitarian regime of the Seeley for two and bit years, this is a revelation. They've also marked their new books with a special sticky label so they can check whether or not students have been making notes in them.
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| So shiny, so new |
On the other hand, I do have to question their definition of 'new' in some cases:
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| Not that shiny |
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| A 'new' book that's been in the library since before I started secondary school. I feel quite young now. |
It feels a bit like a school library, in that it's small with standard bookshelves, wooden tables and the generic bluey-grey carpet, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
There did seem to be an alarming number of chains hanging off the ceiling which I was initially confused by, until I realised that they enabled the lights to be closer to the bookshelves - a thoughtful addition.
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| Birds eye view of an awful lot of bookshelves |
However, all was not well. At approximately 3pm a couple of the librarians started talking loudly downstairs. I can only assume that they had a very good reason for their conversation, for example, if someone was in a life or death situation. I can't see any other decent excuse for that level of spoken noise inside a library.
I then discovered that there was a toilet and a water fountain inside the library itself and suddenly the sins of the talkative librarians were forgotten. Sometimes, having to walk down 80 steps to get to a water fountain/toilets just isn't appreciated (yes, caius library, I'm looking at you). Thanks to the brilliant layout of the SPS library, hydrating while you work has never been easier.
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| A WATER FOUNTAIN. IN A LIBRARY. GENIUS. |
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| Ten minutes before closing time, dedication |
8/10 - friendly library, comfy seats, conveniently located facilities, sensible rules to stop people writing in books, but let down by a very relaxed attitude towards chatting...
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| Today's reading sees the return of J. G. A. Pocock and his irritating overuse of 'scare quotes' |
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