Let’s face it, our studying habits overall have been wrecked by the pandemic. If you’re the outlier in this group and believe your study habits or school work productivity hasn’t changed over the course of COVID-19, please tell me your secret, you dark wizard. 

The key to a successful study session is the location. If the place you are studying doesn’t best suit your needs, then you’re going to have a difficult time staying focused and on task. 

Pre-pandemic, I lived and breathed WKU’s Cravens library. I’m not ashamed to admit that most nights I stayed until they physically had to kick me out. 

Why WKU’s Cravens library is arguably the best place to study on campus

The fourth floor is the main level with a computer lab and book checkout. The writing center is on this floor and they are excited to help students with any of their writing needs. If you need to print stuff out for class or for studying purposes, there are two printers; one black & white and one color. 

If you are the type of person that needs absolute silence while you do work, the fifth and sixth floors are the designated quiet floors. They are so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. 

Personally, I prefer a table facing out towards the leaf-changing campus and surrounding Bowling Green on the seventh, eighth or ninth regular library floors. 

You can rent out individual or group study rooms if you prefer to be in a room you can close the door to. In the group study places, they have whiteboards and a decent amount of seating for a larger cohort of people.

There are plenty of outlets to plug in your various electronic devices. Some of the chairs and booths have built-in outlets. 

The seating is super comfortable; the chairs, couches and booths. The setup of desks, tables and other various forms of counters are designed to have plenty of space to adequately spread out. 

I don’t (I bet you don’t either) understand how the Dewey decimal system works, but the librarians there are thrilled to help students find books. Trust me when I tell you that the librarians on campus are some of the nicest people I have ever met. 

Still not convinced???

Going to the library gets you out of your room. It may give you more motivation to work if you are in a different environment. 

They have a plethora of resources for students who are researching topics for class or for personal interest. WKU library’s website is very user-friendly with online databases for finding journals and books. You can also loan out books from other libraries through the website. 

I am writing this article on the seventh floor, fully immersed in the experience that is the WKU library. I challenge you to change up your routine and come in. 

If you struggle as I do in putting down the line between home and school, make the library the place you get your work done, so when you go home you don’t drag school with you. 

Need a fresh start after quarantine? Bring a friend and stop by Cravens!

Commentary writer Rose Donnelly can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @RoseDonnelly_