Dude, where’s my book?

When writing an essay, using supplementary reading is a fact of life. Without copious footnotes and alternative sources to back up the argument we want to make, our best efforts are almost guaranteed to be mediocre.

Naturally, the library is the obvious place to find extra reading, and the vast number of books means you’d have to be pretty specific to be unable to find anything. Being the unorganised student that I am, instead of doing any comprehensive research prior to a library trip, I prefer to just do my research there. Although this means you may have a disap- pointing crop of books, there’s one thing that is infinitely more irritating – not being able to find a book marked available in the catalogue.

Imagine the disappointment when, having finally gotten my act together long enough to actually go to the library, I find that the book has disappeared! I should make it clear now that I don’t blame the library in any way, but rather the students who hide them. It seriously makes me question how you let your account get to the point where you can’t check out books, it’s not THAT hard to keep on top of it. The reason that this irritates me so much is that the erstwhile, to me, is often important. But it’s also the cheek, and the time you waste trying to find it.

The size of the library means many of these books may end up languishing in literary purgatory forever, lost to the rounds of students seeking to utilise them for an essay.

First you search the shelves, worrying that you may have simply gone to the wrong place or lost the ability to count; then you engage the library staff for help, but 15 minutes later, nobody is any the wiser, and you resign your- self to the inevitable hold that will never be redeemed. The size of the library means many of these books may end up languishing in literary purgatory forever, lost to the rounds of students seeking to utilise them for an essay. Luckily, many books overlap in content, especially academic work, but the annoying feeling of not being able to find the book is lodged in your mind, and the quotes you can use are restricted.

What annoys me the most is that I and many other students actually try to use the library properly. However, those few who attempt to circumvent the rules end up affecting the quality of it, putting more people off using one of our top resources.

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Photo: flickr/bevgoodwin