And what will I find in the morning?

I often tend to be the first member of the library staff to arrive in the morning, and on those days when I am actually awake as I turn on the lights and walk the library spaces, I look around the various areas and try to determine what it was like the night before. I can generally tell that it was a slow night when I find most of the chairs are still in place and the trash cans still have room for more trash. Other mornings all the trash cans are overflowing, and I find such things as a chalk board in one of the study rooms completely filled with written evidence that a study group had been hard at work the night before. Another room may have a couple DVDs scattered by the player, and then I take some time to check the titles and try to guess whether the group was working an assignment or just relaxing. Leftover drink containers and sometimes even a pizza box (even though consumption of food is “not allowed”) also help me imagine what actually was going on.

Other mornings I walk by our large collection of oversized art books, and the area appears like Hurricane Katrina has just passed through. It is clear the art history students have an assignment due in the morning, and several of them had a field day moving the heavy art books around on the tops of our low shelving units. The books are too heavy to transport out of or even within the Library, so most of their work is done right near the collection

Rearrangement of furniture is also intriguing. For example it was clear this morning that a class using our large instruction room broke themselves down into smaller work groups, because I found three separate circles of chairs spread out across the second floor space.


From experience I knew in an instant who had been there – the Children’s Literature class from the Education Department. This class always seems to leave clear evidence. Earlier in the semester, we found cut-out, paper gingerbread men attached to all those areas of our collection containing children’s books or information about children’s books. The instructor for this class always amazes me, because these paper figures appear but I never see her attaching them. I’m sure she can teach our military about stealth actions. However, I did find more evidence of her class this morning, including my friend here:
In other spaces our softer arm chairs have been moved into carrels or next to group study tables and have replaced the harder wood chairs. Sometimes even heavy tables have been moved to accommodate a bigger group. Blinds have been raised in some areas and lowered in others.

It is clear that the students are comfortable adjusting their environment and making themselves at home in the library. And even though I am observing this evidence in the early morning with not one of them present, it makes me happy to know we are there for them. It is a great way to start the day.