Masland Library Blog

This video was inspired by a previous post "Cheap Library Dates". That blog can be read here. Please enjoy the following feature.

A Special thank you goes to the cast Daniel Wright, Rebecca Hardman and Daniel Hanselman.  The artist vision and videography is courtesy of Daniel Wright and Michael Rothermal. 

The library is a place for some serious studying, which occasionally produces the heavy desire to munch and crunch. There is a sign that remind folks not to go up or down the stairs with the intentions to eat food. The library is a great place to practice integrity, so please do not ignore the sign and feed the gobble monster in your tummy that likes to scratch at your insides. If you feel as though you cannot resist, walk quickly to the lobby near the front desk and munch there for some time. Why do we ask for such a difficult request? The library has many lovely books that help many people. Some books are older than most students, if not all. We try our best to keep these books clean and stainless, so the farther they are from food the better.

The sensational smells that enter the library with patrons are not only a dead giveaway of your belongings, but they also serve as distractions to other focused students. Aromas provide different therapies for people, and the aroma of food is like a lovely poison, stimulating the brain to think the body needs food, and thus other people might feel the sudden urge to eat as well, and they lose that God given grace to focus. Please think of others and the beautiful essence of the library.

Thank You

Dominique Delva

Operas – Richard Wagner’s Tristan Und Isolde, Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Georges Bizet’s Carmen, Wolfgang Mozart’s Don Giovanni

~Wayne Hailstone

Guest Post by Abbie Fehr

I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I came to work at the library the beginning of my freshman year at Cairn. I just thought I’d be working with a bunch of books. And while that has been overwhelmingly true, four years of working at the library—including 2 J-terms and 3 summers—has taught me that it’s so much more.  

The library’s about journals. I wouldn’t be a proper library employee if I didn’t at least give the obligatory nod to some of the other resources the library offers. I bet you didn’t even know this job was an option, but I worked two years as the Serials Clerk—stamping, shelving, and shifting the various periodicals that come into the library. They’re nifty, but most people don’t even know that they exist on the right side of the bottom floor of the library. Check them out sometime, except not literally because they’re set as Library Use Only and taking them from the library would be considered stealing. And that would make me sad. And for goodness sake, please use the online databases sometime. They make your work a whole lot easier and more credible, and you’ll have less to regret when you graduate and have no access to them anymore. At least make the most of the time you have. There’s also CDs and DVDs, including all three seasons of Downton Abbey, which of course you have the time to watch during the semester.

The library’s about studying. I didn’t actually do all that much studying in the library because, as an employee, I invariably got people coming to me with library questions when I was trying to do my homework. I didn’t like the tension between the joy of helping someone and the frustration at being derailed from my train of thought, so I just stayed away. But I’ll still think fondly of how I used the uncomfortable chairs to spur me on to finish my paper faster or how I felt lost and confused when I found that some cruel person had taken my spot at study carrel #42. Sometimes the library felt like an existential time loop, where hundreds of students have written that same eschatology paper in this building over the past 20 years. There’s a strange solace in that kind of solidarity.  

The library’s about people. While library patrons are all well and good, the people in the library that will stick with me the most are the librarians. Having worked in both parts of the library—the “downstairs” Circulation department and “upstairs” Technical Services department—I’ve had the privilege of working with all 7 of Cairn’s librarians. (Yes, there are more than just the two you see on a regular basis.) I will miss the quiet kindness that I observed in Gwenn, the teasing I took from Alice, the thunderous theological discussions I had with Melvin, the vegan recipes I stole from Laura, the analysis of period dramas I thought through with Stephanie, the laughter I shared with Nang Tsin, and the polite banter I ventured with Dr. Hui. Those things might have little to do with actual work, but that is not to imply that everyone’s lazy. We’re not. We do a lot more than patrons will ever see, and we like it that way. More than all of the stamping and shifting and shelving that I’ve done in the library, these conversations that happened amidst and around that work will stick with me the longest.  

The library’s about Jesus.  Mostly, I think, the past four years have taught me that the library’s about Jesus. I mean this on more than the fundamental fact that it’s a theological library at a biblical university. That’s just the obvious part. But through example and explanation, I’ve seen the Gospel play out between those pale pink walls. I was forgiven one day when I completely forgot to show up to work as a freshman and then restored to the point where I was given a key and the freedom to come work on library projects at off hours. There was the time where I sent my boss an email because I was nearing an emotional breaking point and didn’t know if I could keep it together at work—and rather than lecturing me about professionalism—he simply told me that he and his wife were praying for me. From serious talks on Calvinism and church music to advice on how to seduce men with pie, I’ve been convicted, challenged, amused, unsettled, and encouraged by the various people at the library. They’re not perfect. I’m not perfect. But beyond a shared love of books, a shared love of Jesus draws us together in a way that nothing else can.
I’ve learned a lot in these past four years, and the library has been a big part of it. Though gone for less than a week, I already miss it. I will always be grateful.

Goodbye.

abbie fehr.

It has come upon us once again. That time of the year where students pull all-nighters with their noses stuffed into books and coffee in their hands. We all know the stress of finals week, so the library is offering some good news to hard-core study students! The library will be open an extra hour than later, making closing time midnight instead of 11! We also advise you to make use of the study rooms that can be checked out at the front desk, if having people going by will get you distracted. The study rooms help you to focus on your studies and not get distracted by friends who walk by.

And if you need time to de-stress, you can check out a movie to help relax! With May 4th having just passed us, a personal recommendation is one of the Star Wars movies. The movies will come up on a search in the library catalog, and can be checked out at the front desk. And for those of you who listen to music while you study, the library has headphones to check out at the front desk as well!

Hope all of our commodities help with this last week of craziness. Good studying!

~Rachel

The library has a wide collection of different and special places spread out across the building. Whether it’s the comfortable curriculum lab, or the computer lab that encourages productivity, the library offers many neat spots to study, do homework, or simply chill after a long day.

Most people are not aware that there are two sets of stairways in the library. The flight of stairs that everybody uses is the main stairway, in the front of the library. What most people don’t know is that there is another flight of stairs in the back of the library.

Maybe I’m biased, but I think the back stairway is the coolest spot in the library, and probably one of the coolest spots on campus.

It stretches from the basement door (behind which is the rare book collection, LP records, and excess shelving), to the second story door (which is of course home to curriculum lab, music reference, computer lab, and stacks). The whole stairway is lined with large windows, looking out on the pond, driveway through campus, and the athletic fields in the distance. With such tall windows, looking out from above provides what has to be one of the best views on campus. Some days while I’m working, I’ll find myself on the stairway to deliver a book upstairs, and the view stops me. The way the light shines, or the vantage point causes me to stop and admire God’s beauty.

The next time you’re in the library and you need a study break, or you’re a photographer with nothing to take pictures of, or you need a spot of reflection, try the back staircase. It provides a unique quiet minute (or two) away from your loud, busy college life.

Just another way you can take advantage of what the library has to offer!

|Andrew