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| The Updated Nelson Memorial Library
by Lainey S. Cronk
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 “Have
you been in the library?” a fellow student asks me, near the
end of the first week of spring quarter.
“No...” I say, my voice trailing into a question mark.
“They’ve already started making changes,” she
says. “You should go see it.”
I’m perplexed. These “proposed developments” are
supposed to be vague dreams that come into being “when we
raise the money” or “when we finalize the plans”
– which means “when your great-grandchildren are attending
college.”
I’m also curious. I have long loved books and the worlds contained
in them. My growing-up library was a bright place filled with wonder
and delight. But here, at PUC, I quickly gave up the search for
wonder and delight in our own library. The drab walls and stark
lighting seemed to sap the life from the books. Last quarter, I
noticed that the heavy earth-orange of the staircase walls had been
covered with layers of white. I was grateful, but the change did
relatively little for the overall mood of the place.
If the library were just a building full of books, then it would
make sense to wait and, when we raise the necessary funds, build
a completely new library. But apparently the school administration
understands that our library is about so much more—it’s
about students. Seeing the need for a more student-friendly library,
they’ve decided that now is a good time for action.
So now I go to the library to see what they’ve done. And I
am astounded. When President Osborn said “like Barnes and
Noble,” I guess he really meant “like Barnes and Noble.”
Moreover, somebody knew what “Barnes and Noble” really
was, and here it is.
In the entryway, I walk past the place where the “No Food
and Drink” sign, now deposed, used to reign. As I walk in
to the library, the smell of fresh paint drifts languidly around
corners. Behind the door to the Reading Room, a painter kneels on
the floor doing touch-up with a brush. The new green in the entry
is dark, but it is elegant and warm in its darkness, not old and
disapproving. New couches and chairs bring class and comfort to
the room. At the study tables, the simple addition of small lamps
makes a noticeable difference.
Trying not to look too touristy as I amble through the library,
I stop to look for the shelves of children’s books that another
friend had mentioned. To my surprise, I find them and spend some
blissful minutes recognizing familiar old titles.
I could stay in the library until midnight, since the hours have
been extended, but I have other places I must be. I leave the library
with a feeling of pleased wonder. “It’s really impressive
that they’re actually doing this now,” I think, “and
doing it so beautifully.” Besides, I have Frog and Toad Are
Friends under my arm -- and that’s a beautiful thing in itself.
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