Lost in the stacks

OXFORD, England -- The Herman B Wells Library stacks might seem like large prison cells. The buzzing of its fluorescent lights might make students twitch. The 11th floor might be haunted. But IU Bloomington's main library offers more than what any library at Oxford University can: access -- and plenty of it. \nAmerican students take for granted easy access to library books. Wells library stays open from 8 a.m. to midnight every weekday. During the weekends, the stacks are still open for 11-13 hours a day. The Information Commons section is always open, providing impressive technology resources to any IU student, or anyone else, at any time. \nOxford University's Bodleian Library, perhaps the most famous library in the world, owns a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom in the last 400 years. It owns a 1623 edition of Shakespeare, among other famous first editions. However, students cannot check out books from the Bodleian. If students want to read its books, they must sit down and read them in the library itself. Librarians militantly monitor the books' safety -- signs remind readers that marking in their pages is a serious offense. The library also closes at 10 p.m. every night.\nThe Bodleian's novelty begins to wear once it becomes apparent how difficult its size renders getting a hold of books. Most of the library's books are actually off-site, packed up in warehouses until someone requests them. Once a student does so, it may take as few as six or as many as 24 hours to receive a book. While smaller, subject-specific libraries allow undergraduates to check out as many as 15 books at a time, they usually close earlier than the Bodleian, as well. Oxford students have to plan ahead to get their reading done. There's no room for error.\nMost students adjust their schedules depending on when they have access to the materials they need -- i.e. computers and books. IU's Wells computer lab is open 24 hours a day. With book services available for 16 of those 24 hours, IU students are free to follow a variety of study schedules. \nAt the same time, Oxford students will almost never need to ask their library to order a book from another library. Experience in working with a more difficult library system is also rewarding, and it's easier to feel a sense of accomplishment after a day in a reading room, confident that Facebook has not eaten away half of one's "study" time. With the convenience of easy access to texts, abstracts and technology, we may have lost the appreciation for the traditional schedule of the student, who held down the same hours as a white-collar worker: both were in their offices from nine until five. American students are used to our library luxuries and should appreciate the flexibility of hours that makes it possible for us to hold down jobs, play sports or have otherwise-crammed schedules while still making time to study. Near-unlimited access opens a lot of doors -- but it's certainly nice to have evenings off from the library.