Focus
Student Scene
March 13, 2000
First-Years Eye Countway Renovation from Comfort of Other Niches
By Catherine ChuHousing more than 650,000 bound volumes and subscribing to more than 3,500 current journal titles, the Francis A. Countway Medical Library is one of the largest academic medical libraries in the country. Yet students rarely study there now.
The massive renovation project nearing completion is the obvious cause of the dislocation. Historically absorbing approximately 1,200 to 1,300 visitors each day, these numbers have dwindled significantly since preparation for construction began in the fall of 1997. "People are just not studying here," says Countway librarian Judy Messerle. "Folks who have to get their hands on journals come in, but people don't hang around. Who can blame them?" Messerle and the Countway staff can empathize with their patrons. "We made the decision to stay open, and it's been hard on everybody," she says. "Every staff member has moved her office at least once. Every book has moved at least once. It's been a struggle. It has been incredibly noisy and dirty and dusty."
Complimentary ear plugs offered at the circulation desk at Countway
Gimme Shelter
Faced with these distractions, HMS students have moved into the larger community to search out alternative shelters for serious schoolwork. And students don't anticipate returning to the Longwood campus anytime soon. Having never seen or experienced Countway Library prior to construction, first-year students, in particular, have developed hardened attitudes and habits that may be difficult to break.
Carolyn Lucy and Kulpana Mani at the Harvard Coop Cafe
"There's no atmosphere at Countway," says first-year Caroline Lucy. "It's really bland and boring." She and classmate Kulpana Mani prefer to study in Cambridge at the Harvard Coop Cafe. In fact, local cafes have been choice destinations for many Harvard medical and dental students. Travel time can take up to 20 minutes by T, and it's often cumbersome to haul the tomes required for an intensive pharmacology or biochemistry review. Yet students can almost always be found blending into the grind at the 1369 Coffee House on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge or Curious Liquids on Beacon Hill in Boston.
1369 Coffee House and Curious Liquids, which will be closing May 26 to make way for a new bank
The arsenal of more than 100 separate libraries affiliated with the main campus in Cambridge draws a significant proportion of Harvard's Boston contingent over the Charles River. Longwood students have tended to aggregate in a few favorite sanctuaries, including the second floor reading room of the Langdell Law library. This is where Marcus Ko chooses to study. "It's a nicer library than Countway," he says. "It has a more open environment." Classmate Prince Davis adds, "The law library is my oasis from distraction. Countway is too close to home, and so it does not remove distraction from me. If I get tired, I can just go to my room."
Jean Lee, Prince Davis, Marcus Ko, and Raymond Kim, (clockwise, from left) hunch over their books at the Langdell Law Library.
Raymond Kim travels to Cambridge particularly to find his Longwood friends. "Right now, Countway is dead," he says. "Maybe when the construction is done and there are more people there, I will go to Countway. But it's fun to study in the law library because you see people there." Fellow first-year Jean Lee concurs. "Misery loves company," she says.
A Room of One's Own
Just across the main campus Quad, nestled in the shadow of the awesome Widener library, sits Lamont, which offers a smaller, more intimate setting for readers. Harvard College alumna Linda Chou has studied here for years. She affectionately refers to Lamont as "Linda's Lament," acknowledging the many hours she has already invested within these walls and the countless more she anticipates committing as a medical student. "I never study at Countway," she says, "it's too boring." Classmate Marvin Ryou opts to study at Lamont to escape the Longwood fishbowl. "Everybody goes to the law library, and I'm antisocial," he says.
Lamont Library
Closer to campus, the Museum of Fine Arts on Huntington Avenue is perhaps the most underappreciated location for off-campus study. This neglect is surprising since all Harvard students receive free admission to this aesthetic environment with their student ID. Lining the second floor foyer are individual tables and chairs, often empty and never totally full. Directly above the main entrance, the museum houses a small library of its own, which is open to the public during normal business hours. Kira Marciniak can sometimes be found decorating these corridors. "I go to the MFA to study schoolwork and then to study the art," she says. "It's quiet, but there is still a lot going on."
Comfy chairs among the art at the MFA
Although Harvard medical and dental students do not anticipate markedly changing their study habits once the Countway construction is completed, they are enthusiastic about the renovation. Students especially welcome the return of a convenient and quiet place to read during the week. The $26 million overhaul brings the library three times its current computer capacity, group study rooms on each floor, a new reading room on the first floor, and a remodeled Aesculapian room on the lower level. "It will be fabulous," says librarian Messerle.
Aside from all of the additions, she expects the library ambience to return soon. "The staff is excited. We have wonderful paintings that will come back to the walls after two and a half years in storage," she says. "I hope that students study here. It will be grand."