Article by Ruby Foxall, Photos by Mikayla Mann

PHYSICS LIBRARY — JACOBS 1st FLOOR, STAUFFER LOUNGE

Just inside the doors of Keck/Jacobs, you’ll find a cozy little lounge full of blackboards covered in incomprehensible equations…and also some life-saving physics textbooks. The physics lounge is home to every Core physics textbook imaginable (even Prof. Sahakian’s new mechanics textbook!), plus comfortable couches and a plethora of puzzles and board games. Sit down to grind out a Spec Rel pset, then reward yourself with a break to work on the latest thousand-piece puzzle laid out on the table in the corner.

ENGINEERING LIBRARY — PARSONS 2nd FLOOR, HALLWAY & ENGINEERING LOUNGE

The engineering department library is tucked away on the second floor of Parsons, but if you find your way up there without getting lost, you’re in for a treat. The library is made up of two sections, one by the professors’ offices and one in the engineering lounge. In both, you can find all kinds of textbooks on engineering, covering topics from materials to dynamics to environmental and civil engineering… and even some physics content, including several books by Richard Feynman.

HSA LIBRARY — PARSONS 1st FLOOR, HSA LOUNGE

At the entrance of Parsons lies the oft-forgotten HSA lounge and library. This collection of books is eclectic and represents a wide variety of humanities, social sciences, and arts content. Sometimes profs will leave out free boxes of books for you to take! The HSA library is also home to several old Spectrum yearbooks, so if you ever wanted to see Prof. Breznay’s senior page, now you know where to go.

BIO LIBRARY — OLIN 2nd FLOOR, BIO LOUNGE

Hidden on the seldom-frequented second floor of Olin is the biology department lounge and library. Here, you can find cool books about biology and every biology thesis ever written. Enjoy the chameleon tape dispenser and the nice view of the 5Cs from the windows!

AFFINITY GROUP LIBRARIES — LAC 2nd FLOOR, RIGGS ROOM

On the second floor of the LAC lies the holy grail of interesting reading. Several affinity groups have libraries in the Riggs Room, including PRISM, APISPAM, and MUNCH. These libraries are funded by the Office of Institutional Diversity and you can request books through the relevant affinity group. You can check out books on a variety of topics, from fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, romance, contemporary, etc.) to non-fiction (history, (auto)biography, etc.).

CHEM LIBRARY — KECK 2nd FLOOR, CHEM LOUNGE

You can find the chemistry department library in one of the department’s two lounges in Keck (on the second floor). This room has all kinds of chem books, plus a special feature no other library on campus has — an escape hatch for Prof. Van Ryswyk in case his lab catches on fire! The hatch is well-hidden and doesn’t take away from the ambiance of the space, and the lounge sometimes has snacks for you to nosh on while slogging through your chem homework.

ASHMC LIBRARY — PLATT 1st FLOOR, HALLWAY

For all your Core textbook needs, check out the ASHMC library in Platt! Just inside the door near the Green Room and Career Services, you’ll find several large bookshelves stuffed with all kinds of textbooks. Beyond Core, you can also find interesting books from various off-campus classes covering a dazzling array of topics, and more yearbooks. Make sure not to remove the textbooks from Platt though!