With more than five and a half million volumes of literature and nearly 80 professional staff members, the Main Library’s West Wing might just be the perfect untapped resource for students looking for a silver lining.

Fourth Floor
Denise Hubbard said she works in the library’s hidden gem.

“It’s kind of secretive,” said Hubbard, a social work sophomore. “No one really knows about it.”

Hubbard is a student worker in the Digital and Multimedia Center on the Main Library’s fourth floor.
In the center, students can check out DVDs, rent headphones and find plenty of room to spread out, Hubbard said.

“There is a lot of sitting space up here,” she said. “Hardly anyone comes up here during finals week.”

The unfrequented fourth floor also houses the Fine Arts Library, where students can find resources pertaining to music, the visual arts, architecture and photography.

Similar to the Digital and Multimedia Center, the Fine Arts Library is a perfect oasis for students hitting the textbooks, Scott Osdras said.

The comparative cultures and politics junior said it was his first time visiting the Fine Arts Library to study.

“I tend to study in the same place, and it gets old,” he said.

“Not many people come up to this floor, so it stays pretty quiet.”

Third Floor
The higher you go, the more study-friendly the library environment becomes — or so human biology sophomore Jessica Jary has heard.

“The third floor’s pretty quiet, and it has good (cell phone) reception,” Jary said.

Jary found a silent area on the third floor near the U.S. Census Information section to study for a physics assignment. For politically inclined students, the floor has International Documents and U.S. Government Documents sections for students to use for research or studying.

The third floor also is home to the Map Library, where students can look at atlases, topographical maps and historic maps of the U.S., including a map from 1849 during the Gold Rush. Although the maps cannot be checked out, students can use the second floor’s copy center to scan needed materials.

Fernando Solis, a medical technology sophomore who began working in the Map Library this semester, said he sees many students from related areas of study visit the Map Library.

“We usually see more geology, landscaping, soil services (and) agriculture students,” Solis said. “But we do see a range of people here, mostly to study because it’s the most quiet area here.”

Second Floor
A last-minute trip off campus to complete a poster presentation might not be necessary since Heather Wellman said many students don’t realize the helpful resources the second floor’s copy center provides.

“A lot of people don’t know we sell supplies,” said Wellman, an elementary education senior and student supervisor of the copy center. “Index cards, pens, pencils and highlighters — we have all of that.”

Aside from art supplies, Wellman said the copy center provides many services to students, including copying, printing, scanning, lamination, binding and poster printing.

The copy center is open for students from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 1 a.m. Sunday and whenever the Main Library is open Friday and Saturday.

First Floor
John Coffey said there is no time like finals week in the Main Library.

“It’s basically wall-to-wall (with) students for obvious reasons,” said Coffey, a reference librarian on the first floor.

Stationed at the reference desk near the main entrance of the library, Coffey helps students find resources they might need for research. He said each reference librarian specializes in a different area of study to be able to find a reliable source for students in need of information.

Veotis Thompson, an accounting sophomore who has worked in the library’s Sparty’s Convenience Store for about a year and a half, said longer lines mean busier shifts.

“The line easily goes around the corner to the elevator, sometimes beyond,” Thompson said. “It’ll be busy at seven o’clock in the morning. It’ll be busy at seven o’clock at night. It’ll be busy at three o’clock at night.”