"As an undergraduate, I almost never used Widener. I preferred libraries like Lamont and Hilles," Cort says. "Now it's second nature to me, but the stacks still can be intimidating."

And if the stacks are intimidating for a library veteran, they're even worse for a College sophomore.

"I usually don't go to Widener. I just don't like it," the Dunster sophomore says. "I don't feel like going up into the stacks. This [Lamont] is accessible."

Of course there are those who are drawn in by less conventional means than academic research.

There's always the real purpose of the stacks--the secluded B southwest section has an excellent reputation for that infamous undergraduate rite of passage.

But most students go to Widener for strictly scholastic purposes.

Some library buffs actually like to navigate the stacks in search of that elusive tome.

"Widener's easy to use. It's one big box," says Lamont employee Jeffrey I. Zaref '96. "[I prefer] Widener because I can take out books for longer."

The Tourist Trap

Although a sign on Widener's front door proclaims that tourists are not allowed inside, the Harvard monument is a major tourist attraction.

Three local residents yesterday made the trip to Harvard just to see the library.

They toured the memorial room and checked out the dioramas of Harvard through the ages.

"It's impressive," says Theresa S. Tang, of Westford, Mass.

She and her companions say the trip into Cambridge to see Widener was well worth it.

"Tourists are not afraid of Widener, because they don't know what Widener really is," says the Leverett sophomore.