Two weeks ago, I went to the opening of the Sciences Library's new Friedman Study Center - nominally to attend the celebration of Brown's technology and resources, but really to get some low-quality pizza and a free backpack and because I had already seen the "Futurama" episode playing on Cartoon Network that evening. What I found was an impressive space, full of mostly working computers, clean desks, oddly-shaped but comfortable chairs and a pleasant, well-lit work area. What I didn't find was a library.
Let me first say that I am deeply indebted to Susan and Richard Friedman for their generous donation, and I honestly believe it is a great service to the Brown community. But the Study Center, or, as it was once known, the SciLi Basement, is ultimately a social place - no different, except in scale, from the CIT, Faunce or any other 24-hour space on campus. With the exception of the small reference section, buried in a far corner, there is no indication that the SciLi basement, is indeed in the Sciences Library - no books, no journals, only the sounds of conversations, printers and photocopiers.
Libraries, ultimately, are repositories of information, a proud tradition of collecting and organizing knowledge dating back to Alexandria in Egypt that forms the heart of scholarship. On this point, Brown has done an admirable job, and its extensive print collections range from the infamous human flesh folios to the far more mundane but potentially more useful - to students of government, or students with insomnia - collection of the proceedings of the Canadian Parliament in the early 20th century. Furthermore, Brown has an excellent and expanding collection of electronic journals and databases, the current medium of choice for much of the sciences, social sciences and humanities. The new SciLi basement incorporates none of this.
Instead it is now only a work area, and one which, in the opinions of many I've spoken with, has too much wasted space and too few tables and carrels, especially compared to its older permutation. While it's a great space if you can find a place to sit or type - if you can't, you're out of luck. I fear that during midterms and finals, too many people will be out of luck.
The transition of libraries from sites of research to sites of socialization is not new, nor is it unique to Brown. Last month, a library in New Jersey decided to close during after-school hours, because students had become unacceptably loud and disruptive to others. While this decision was reversed after a spate of negative publicity, it illustrates a new function of libraries as de facto community centers. I spent part of winter break working in my local public library, and while many people checked out books or movies, many others browsed the Internet or dropped their kids off by the children's literature section, assuming the reference staff also served as babysitters. I don't doubt that libraries have uses beyond gathering information, but when they become socializing areas, they lose their essential function.
And that is my problem with the new SciLi basement. By divorcing itself in design and in construction from the books and resources of the library system, it forgets the one true function of the building: to store the knowledge of humanity in a way accessible to all. Before, it was impossible to go into a library without working amidst the pieces of the Brown collection, realizing its power and learning, if only by osmosis or trial-and-error, how to research, how to be a student and hopefully, how to be a scholar. But now, it is only a large concrete room, with nothing but a sign to indicate that it is even in a library.
I don't dispute that the Friedman Study Center will be a useful though imperfect addition to Brown. But I hope it does not reflect the University's future plans and that the administration remembers that when it comes down to it, libraries are ultimately about books, research and scholarship, not about egg-shaped chairs, inefficient computer desks or oddly-shaped plastic dividers.
Joey Borson '07 freely admits he's a bit of a library nerd.
