Not long ago, there was a wall in the middle of campus. It showcased political graffiti and attempted to obscure the messy construction site behind it. Many moons later, a spaceship-esque building rose up in its stead, thus marking the birth of what Washington University students fondly refer to as “the library.”
You may have also noticed that along with this vastly improved, albeit architecturally atrocious haven of books, came a multitude of visitors outside of the student/staff/faculty body. In Whisper’s Caf‚, as you stand in line for three hours for a mocha, you may or may not notice the influx of strangers making copious use of our library facilities.
Although you may feel as though your private domain is being infringed upon, these friendly visitors from outside the bubble are actually a good thing. Barring sketchy pedophiles and old men searching for a place to masturbate, we should welcome community members into our library and allow them to use our facilities.
Although we should not allow people who do not contribute to the academics here to print endless amounts of meaningless dribble on our precious paper, there is no reason why we should keep our wide selection of books to ourselves.
A college library is a precious commodity for many communities, and Olin should be no different. Visitors should be allowed to use the reference items as long as they don’t take anything home with them.
We are lucky to attend a school that provides us with such a valuable resource for our studies. There is no reason to deny our surrounding community access to such a treasure. It is always a good idea to improve our school’s relationship with the outside world.
In that same vein, though, we have several requests for the guests of Olin: please do not take anything home with you that you didn’t bring in. Please don’t expose yourself in the B stacks. Please don’t spill that deliciously overpriced coffee on any of our books. Please don’t answer your cell phone or cackle loudly while in a “quiet zone.” Please sit on the floor if you have to stay awhile, because finding desk/chair space is tough, particularly during reading week. Thanks. It’s been nice doing business with you.