I have consistent issues with the quiet room in the basement of the library.  People answer their cell phones, listen to their head phones very loud, whisper, and even have full conversations.  I realize that college students should realize and respect what a quiet room is, but I was wondering if it would be possible to have clearer signs so people are reminded that this behavior is unacceptable.  It’s distracting to listen to it, or to constantly ask people to be quiet.

Thanks for writing. I’m sorry you’re being disturbed by the noise. If you can’t get people to pipe down in the designated quiet areas, please find a library staff member–we’ll do what we can to resolve the problem. We’ll also put up some new signs to help people remember the rules.

Also, the third floor will reopen to all the Drexel community on Monday, November 9th. It’s usually very quiet up there, and if it’s not, the law library staff will remind people to simmer down.

Now that we are renovating the library, it might be an appropriate time to clean the atrium skylights; they’re pretty cruddy.

Thanks for the suggestion. The skylights were cleaned last year during 3rd floor renovations, and they are regularly cleaned by Drexel’s facilities management. Most of the stuff you see on the glass is from general wear and tear and can’t be removed unless (or until) we replace the glass.

There used to be a microwave in the Bookmarks Café. Now there is a Taco Bell. This is not an improvement. Please replace the microwave instead of inducing students to eat hyper-commercialized trash.

Thanks very much for your suggestion. The microwave and Taco Bell are not mutually exclusive. It’s true that we used to have a microwave in the café area, and it seems to have been lost in the shuffle of renovations. We recognize that there’s a lot of demand for a microwave in the café area, and we are working with Dining Services to have it reinstalled.

For more recent information on the microwave situation, please see recent comments and responses.

For more on the food selection in the café, see this recent commentary.

We’ve received several comments about the Taco Bell in the café. Here are two of the latest:

Why was a Taco Bell implemented in the Bookmark Café? Facilities do not take care of the mess caused by the customers. It’s no longer good for studying.

Taco Bell was a bad idea. The smell of tacos and burritos is not something that belongs in a library. A coffee shop or something with some healthier food options would have been better for studying students. Bring back the coffee! Move the Taco Bell into the Student or Recreation Center.

Thank you for your comments. Taco Bell’s implementation in the café was a decision made by Drexel’s Dining Services office. Several months ago Dining Services conducted a survey of Drexel students asking them what new food vendors they wanted to see on campus, and Taco Bell, along with Chick-Fil-A and others, was one of the winners. If you are unhappy with the dining options in the library, please let Dining Services know, and please encourage your friends and peers to do the same.

Regarding coffee, please see other recent comments.

The entrance to the Taco Bell is an emergency exit only! While dining at Taco Bell at least three groups attempted to use those doors. It’s a giant inconvenience and I’m sure it causes Taco Bell to lose customers.

Thanks for commenting. The outer doors to the café area are open in the middle of the day to allow people from the street to come in and use the Taco Bell. However, at all other times those doors are closed in order to keep the library secure and safe for the Drexel community. Our primary purpose at the library is providing a safe and secure location to conduct research and academic activities.

Perhaps have a separate section for newer movies that the library gets in stock? I get tired of going through the alphabet looking for new ones!

Thanks for this great idea. We’re really cramped for space at the moment, so we can’t make a separate section for new DVDs, but we can post a list of the most recent DVDs by the leisure shelves. Also, don’t forget you can always find a list of the most recent additions on the library website. Go to the home page and find the “New Books and DVDs” link on the left. Or just click here.

Taco Bell is fantastic, but you need to sell coffee somewhere! We will perish during finals and midterms.

Coffee and studying go together like rice and beans, and believe us, we agree that coffee’s important. There’s a coffee machine in the vending machine area at the back of the café, and if it’s been awhile since you had that coffee, you might try it again; it’s been recalibrated in the last month improve the taste. Decisions about dining options get made in the office of Dining Services. If you would like to see a change or addition in the dining options in the café, please contact them, and encourage your friends to do the same.

Requests have been coming in to restore the microwave in the café. Here are the two latest:

There used to be a microwave in the Cafe area, but we could not find it anymore. I understand Taco Bell will want students to purchase their food. However they open and close at scheduled times. The cafe area is the only campus place open to students 24/7 where students are able to study. We would appreciate it a lot if we can have a microwave at the cafe, please.

Could you have a Microwave in the library? We need to be able to microwave hot food.

Thanks very much for this suggestion. This is a great idea, and library administration is currently talking with Drexel Dining Services about installing a microwave in the vending area at the back of the café.

Although there is a Taco Bell in the café, students who use the café area are welcome to bring in their own food and are in no way obligated to purchase Taco Bell food. If you are told that you may not bring outside food into the café, please see a member of the library staff.

Since the reopening of the café several people have asked us about the procedures on entering and exiting from the main Hagerty building:

The protocol when leaving the café is completely ridiculous. I do not want to be hassled by having to show my ID.

The new policy of having to scan into the Bookmark Café is ridiculous and time consuming. Why scan in twice? Also why scan out while leaving? It’s very frustrating to follow these mindless procedures.

Thanks for commenting. When the café’s 33rd Street door is unlocked, the café entrance to the library is a public entrance, and so we must scan all IDs to protect the library and students. The way the scanner system works, in order to scan people coming in, we must also scan people coming out. When the 33rd Street door is locked (before 11am and after 5pm) the cafe door to the library is open, and there’s no need to scan your card during library hours. We know this is not the most convenient, and we appreciate your cooperation in treating this entrance like a public door from 11am-5pm.

What a tremendous resource! There has been NO occasion where I was looking for an article and could not find it pretty quickly via the Hagerty on-line resources! Thank you for making such an awsome system available to us.

Why, thank you! Providing the Drexel community with user-friendly access to information is an important part of our mission here at Drexel Libraries. We love to hear when we’re doing well.

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