According to a guard who was checking IDs at the stacks' entrance yesterday afternoon, some tourists and others not affiliated with Harvard are so eager to get inside, they try to sneak past her.

"They try to walk really fast past us," says the guard. "We catch some of them. We don't catch them all. We're not going to chase them down."

Some Harvard students avoid Widener precisely because of the tourists.

"I've worked in the poetry room [in Widener]," says a Lowell senior who asked to be anonymous when found working on her thesis in Lamont's Farnsworth Room. "But Widener's a little too touristy."

Hitting the Books

Of course, Friday afternoon found very few Harvard students hard at work in any of the Yard libraries.

But those few who had their noses to the grindstone say that it's often easier to get work done in the quiet confines of a library then at home.

"I only come to Lamont when I really have to get something done," says the Lowell senior. "It's a last resort. [Usually I study] at cafes, somewhere fun."

"There are some courses you don't have to study for, and some you do," says the Dunster sophomore. "I guess it pays off."

Others do research. But one Currier sophomore says she is determined not to set foot in Widener; she says she'll restrict her research to Lamont.

"I haven't had any [term papers yet]," she says. "But I'm taking one [Historical Study class] this term, so we'll see. But it's only 10 to 15 pages."

How Do They Stack Up?

Despite the 11 libraries available to him, the Leverett sophomore says he prefers the one closest to home.

"I like the Leverett House Library," he says. "I feel like I'm in a forest because of the tree theme."

Both the lamps and the columns in the art-deco New Leverett building are shaped like large oak or redwood trees.