Let me just lay it out simply. Firstly, I have never heard of such awful library hours in my life. All of the libraries here in Salamanca are only open:
M-F 8:30am-8:30pm (Oh, and by the way, some close during the lunch hour from 2 til 4pm)
Sat 8:30am-1:30pm
Sun CLOSED
My question is... WHERE DO PEOPLE GO TO STUDY ON THE WEEKENDS?? Because seriously, who wants to go to the library that early on the first day of your weekend!? And what happens if your apartment isn't the ideal place to study in because you get distracted/cold/can't concentrate because there are loud construction noises going on below?
Continuing on.... never in my life have I heard of a library...
1. that will not let you bring purses, bags or any other "carrying devices" into a library with you.
2. that won't let you bring your OWN BOOKS in with you!!
3. that makes you leave all of those things in a locker
In my specific university department's library here in Salamanca, you are only allowed to bring pieces of paper/notes, pens/pencils and laptops with you... Ok, I guess it may not so bad... but trust me, after a few times it really starts to drive you crazy!! Especially with the following example:
Yesterday, it was absolutely pouring in the morning, so instead of leaving my umbrella in the locker, I decided to try and sneak it up to the second floor with me (successful! ha ha- soooo sneaky!!) Well, unfortunately, I forgot it and realized it just as I was headed out the door into the rain again. So, with my coat, hat, scarf, gloves and purse on, I decided to run upstairs quickly to get it--OR NOT-- not even 5 steps into my descent of the stairs I was getting yelled at! I tried to explain that I had simply left my umbrella upstairs and I was on my way out the door (as she could clearly see by all of my layers!) but she told me that it didn't matter and that I had to put my purse in the locker-- it seemed so ridiculous to me!! Grrrr!
Other frustrations with my library (which I have heard of in other libraries before, but just because it adds on to the list it makes me more frustrated):
1. You can't bring in food or drinks (not even water)
2. There are not very many tables close to outlets to plug in a laptop
This second point is what finally has drawn me to write this blog post... the University of Salamanca is quickly approaching the undergraduate exam week, therefore, there are WAY more people in the library than normal. Because of that, I decided today that I would eat lunch earlier than the normal Spanish hour (so I ate before 2pm) so that I could arrive to the library when everyone else was eating and find a good place to sit. Well, boy, was I wrong! When I arrived, I'm not kidding, absolutely every table that had a plug next to it had papers and books sprawled out all over them and no one there... again, I couldn't believe it! Everyone had gone to lunch and left their stuff there!
I ended up bumping into Rebecca (the only other American in my masters program) who was also in the same predicament as me... no where to sit with our lap tops. For the mean time, we worked with the battery of our lap tops, but after an hour passed we decided that the tables with the papers on them were fair game. (Please correct me if you think we were wrong, but we both discussed that in any library we have every studied in in the U.S., people usually do not leave everything on a table if they are going to be gone for more than a 1/2 hour). That gives you enough time to go to the bathroom/take a quick walk to clear your mind/or have a coffee break... but anything longer than that and there's no sympathy for you...
Apparently here in Spain, that is not the case. When the girl showed up, whose "seat and table" I had occupied, she was not very happy. Actually, she was a little mad and said "I can't believe you moved my things and sat in my spot". I immediately apologized, but tried to explain that there was no where else for me to go with my lap top and since there hadn't been anyone there for over 2 hours I didn't think it would be a problem. I thought in this case she would maybe say, "Ok, well I guess since I don't need to use a lap top, I can move..."-- but I was wrong again! At this point, I was just so frustrated with this library that I decided to leave (since it was almost 4 o'clock and I knew the other one would finally be opening shortly). The disadvantage to the other one is that I do not have access to the WiFi there because I am not a student of that school... UGGGHHHH!
It just felt like one thing after another these past few days... I feel like I have no ideal place to study and do my master's work! I am really missing the Nazareth College library right now, where I was able to bring in as many bags as I liked, along with my own books, and even a huge coffee and food if I wanted to! *Sigh* Time to take a deep breathe...
I know I will survive... it's just really hard sometimes to get used to things that you don't want to get used to... in the mean time, I guess I better get back to work. I'm back at my apartment, and it's actually not seeming like such a bad place to study now, ha ha :)
I was about to yell at that girl and tell her she could take her stuff to the other side cause damnit "we're Americans and we claim what we like" lol! I know what you mean about the libraries, I miss my giant one at UCF where there were plenty of places to sit and plug your laptop in and the WIFI worked everywhere! That 24hr library is gross if you ask me and I hate it. Maybe we can have a study "party" at my place next time, it's quiet and you can bring your suitcase full of drinks with you ;)
ReplyDeleteGood luck little lady!
♥, Becca