My Favorite Study Spots on Campus
Barnumbia’s campus has countless cafés and over a dozen libraries that make for wonderful study spots. I’ve spent my first year floating around from different rooms in libraries, to different floors of a building and even different locations of the same campus café. The result: a list of my absolute favourite study spots to fit every vibe!
Liz’s Place
I had an 8:40 class both semesters this year and Liz’s Place became such a natural part of my 8 AM routine. For a meal swipe, you can get a pastry or bagel, a tea or coffee and a piece of fruit, so I got the same café feel without having to spend $5 on a latte every other day. Even so early in the morning, talking to the baristas put such a smile on my face and energized me for the rest of the morning. Whether it was studying for an exam or going to finish a paper after my class day ended, Liz’s is a consistently cozy and bubbly study area.
Milstein’s Zine Library
I love the Milstein Center. The terraces in the fall and spring are a fun way to get fresh air during an hours-long study session. The tables on the first floor are perfect for talking and hanging out while doing homework. Glass walls on the fifth feeling make it feel like you’re floating as you see all of campus below. But the Zine Library on the second floor remains my uncontested favorite place in Milstein. A large table sits in the midst of one of the most impressive zine collections I’ve ever witnessed. Though it is mostly quiet, light chatter keeps me from feeling too bogged down or bored. If you don’t get a spot in the Zine Library, the entire second floor is an ideal distance from the louder first floor but not as silent as the upper floors.
Brooks Hall Lounge
Living in the Quad has a number of perks, my favourite of which might have been the Study Lounge in the Brooks lobby. It has beautiful, dark wood furniture and feels like a library from a classic movie. It is the quietest study spot on my list, and I usually sit down here when I know I have a lot to get done and need to keep distractions to a minimum. Since it was just downstairs from my dorm room, it was especially convenient for late nights or when I forgot something upstairs. The lighting is also soft and doesn’t strain your eyes too much - I personally am not a fan of fluorescent lights!
Avery Library
Avery is the Architectural and Fine Arts Library near the center of Columbia’s campus and is less than a 10-minute walk from the Barnard Quad. Fitting for its specialty, this library is so cohesively pretty, yet has slightly different tastes and styles depending on what you’re feeling that day. Some areas are reserved for certain departments, but I haven’t found it too difficult to find a seat. The first floor has standard, medium-sized wooden tables surrounded by cases and cases of art books. Downstairs, there are longer tables and lower ceilings, but I found myself gravitating towards this area when I was studying with a group of friends and we knew we’d be there for a while.
Joe’s Coffee
Joe’s Coffee is my favourite study and coffee spot on campus. Sadly, you can’t use meal swipes or dining points, meaning I try to limit my weekly visits to watch my spending. Besides the wonderful coffee, which I miss when we’re not on campus, Joe’s has a particularly chatty and lively atmosphere that I personally prefer when getting work done. The location next to the Journalism school is closer to the Quad and feels like a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop. It’s usually full but if you arrive early and can snag a table, it’s such a fun place to people-watch while studying. The Joe’s in NoCo (the Northwest Corner Building) is such a hidden gem on campus and one of the most beautiful spaces ever! There are ceiling-to-floor glass walls and marble everywhere. It’s an airy and light space and a welcomed difference from the concrete jungle.
Exploring campus to find good coffee and study ambiance has shaped my first-year experience and made me feel a lot more at home! Whether you like a more traditional setting or one with a lot of noise or prefer leaving your living space over studying close to home, there is some study space on campus that will satisfy all of your scholarly needs!
-Defne Egbo