It looks like a quiet university library, but there is a battle going on. Beyond the deceptive calm of the entryway, students engage in a constant competition for the scarce power outlets.
"There's never a place to plug in my laptop," Gina DiIorio, a psychology major, said. "It is ridiculous, I spend more time looking for a place to study than getting any work done."
A lack of power outlets is the biggest complaint, but students also say furniture is outdated and uncomfortable, group project space is limited and there is not enough room for high levels of student traffic. "I don't know why they wouldn't change things; more students go here than anywhere else," said DiIorio.
When the library was first built in the early 1980's, 1,000 students visited each day. That number has increased to 3,000 a day around midterms and finals.
Students say that at some of the less visible tables little schoolwork gets done. "The tables in the back are social hour. My study break is making a lap around the Copley tables," Laura Given, an English major said.
Students who cannot handle the bustle of the main floor head to the Mother Rosalie Hill Reading Room, dubbed the "Harry Potter Room" by students. Noise here is practically nonexistent, but so are power outlets.
"Everyone uses the tables up top, which is great, but they fill up and then you can't use the room if you need a computer," Cory Miller, a sociology major, said about the top floor of the Reading Room. "It's pretty, but it needs to be functional."
In 2007 wiring was added to the mezzanine level of the Reading Room, creating outlets upstairs. The library is considering a similar project on the ground floor to keep up with student laptop needs. University librarian Ed Starkey said that improved outlet access and increased space are his two priorities.
"I wanted to raise the floor three inches to put writing under the floor so every 10 feet or so there was an outlet," he said.
This idea was part of a proposal in summer 2008, asking the provost for one million dollars to fund Copley Library renovations.
Other ideas included increasing the number of computer workstations, moving the reference and periodical sections so as to create space, and installing something new called a tidebreak center. The tidebreak center would allow students to share material from their laptops on a large TV screen, enhancing group study.
"We aren't going to do all this stuff because the university is running a little tight right now because of the economic crisis," Starkey said. "We'll try again next year."
Changes that have been approved for Copley include new bathrooms and vending machines on the basement level. Starkey said he still hopes to add outlets and possibly install one tidebreak center to contribute to what he calls "the living room" idea.
"It's a place that is comfortable as opposed to a strict academic structure with no snacks," Starkey said. Students who study in the library say they do not understand why Copley cannot get funding. " I'm in the library all the time," Sally Kallet, a communications major, said. "More students hang out there than the UC. Why wouldn't the university give us money?"
Until Copley receives funding, there isn't much to do but wait. So until then students will have to keep their eyes peeled and get ready to snag the next available chair. At Copley Library, it's all about the competition.
