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Library needs an upgrade, Princeton Review or not

It’s kind of unusual that Bradley’s Cullom-Davis Library received a No. 1 ranking in the Princeton Review’s Best Colleges publication. Except that it was for the “This is a Library?” category.

The Princeton Review’s level of clarity on what is opinion and what is factually-based is not of the best quality. This causes us to question the credibility of the Princeton Review; however, the administration has still been quite responsive to this issue.

Executive Director of the Library Barbara Galik said students are welcome to put suggestions in a box, which she reads.

And Provost David Glassman acknowledged at Student Senate Speak Up! that library renovations are complete. A design company commented on necessary recommendations that cost around $3 million. Until the university can attain the funds, however, students are expected to sit tight.

We can tell you right now students aren’t going to sit tight until the renovations are done, and that the current opinion isn’t so pretty either.

While this survey is conducted from student opinions rather than quantitative data, we still think it’s important. It’s compiling opinions from real BU students, and that means something, doesn’t it?

Just this week, students studying in the library witnessed water pouring out of the florescent lights and onto the floor. Countless outlets go unused because they don’t work or have broken covers, making it dangerous to plug in chargers. And if you want to try to find a study room on a weekend? Forget about it.

Don’t get us wrong – there are some wonderful features about our library. The online databases and journals students can access are awesome for projects and research papers. And the books currently in the library are helpful for majors across the board.

But while those resources are great for helping us study, the fact of the matter is we don’t want to study in our own library because it is so miserable. And putting a Starbucks in it doesn’t really help.

Too many physical problems are found in the library, including broken outlets and minimal study rooms, outdated furniture and the occasional waterfall from the ceiling.

Call us shallow, but we mean it when we say our library needs an aesthetic revamping.

We understand that the university wants to upgrade the library and that the funds just aren’t there right now, but when will Cullom-Davis finally be the priority?

Good luck surveying students about the current library situation. Until we can stop worrying about bringing an umbrella into Cullom-Davis to study, our opinion is going to stay the same.

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