Widener Library

Potential for Concentration. Contingent. A font of temptation for the easily distracted. (See any "Noah's Archives.") However, those who relish the archetypal collegiate image of the student hunched over a desk in a small cubicle, engulfed by books, will find their paradise in the stacks (See "Noah's Archives" again.) Hiding on any of the seven floors, plus the moving stacks, offers isolation from the ever-encroaching social world.

Comfort level: Low. The chairs in the cubicles are not cozy--you won't be able to recline. The air is a bit stifling and musty, but what do you expect when the books are hundreds of years old?

Lighting: Poor.

Cabot Science Library

Potential for concentration: Depends upon the nature of the individual, really. If you're inspired by others slaving away next to you, go for it. If you're intimidated by feverish workers in your midst, stay away. Since this library is open latest during reading period, your might have to compete for workspace, As if the pre-meds from Chem 20 really need more competition.

Comfort level: Medium. Yet another mediocre judgment. The chairs will not let your fall asleep nor will they force you to use Doan's the next morning.

Lighting: Good. While the impersonal and scientific ambiance can be too much for humanities types, the laboratory-like lighting is okay.

Robbins Philosophy Library

Potential for concentration: Medium. Something about this library just does not work. It looks battered, smells worn out. Almost overcrowded with bookshelves, a claustrophobic sense pervades the already stale air.

Comfort level: Medium. Robbins does offer the three most comfortable seats of all the Harvard libraries. Supple red leather wing chairs and matching ottomans are dangerously alluring. Other chairs in this library are ripped or shredded and do not match the abundant oak paneling. You many find this obsession with interior decorating absurd, but the best studying comes from a mind that is at peace with its environment. So there.

Lighting: Medium. A little pallid, the lighting is neither good nor bad. Do you sense a theme here?

Lamont Library

Potential for Concentration: Varies by floor. High-schoolish classrooms on fourth, fifth and sixth floors reduce likelihood of running into friends and talking for hours. The library where the greatest number of people decide to test their sexual prowess; if you don't get much studying done, at least you might find a date.

Comfort Level: Way too high. Warm climate and abundance of big leather chairs mean it's always bedtime at Lemont. Again, to avoid this predicament head for the austere classrooms. The chairs were not comfortable in high school, and they are not comfortable now.