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.

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.

In response to a recent query about flies in Hagerty’s lower level:

Of course you can take care of the flies. It may look bad, but fly traps work fine. Stop blaming food. Flies can live for months.

Thanks again for your comment. We will look into installing fly traps. Regarding the food ban, please see our recent posts about this problem.

http://www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/librarylog/?p=1160
http://www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/thesuggestionbox/?p=1069
www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/thesuggestionbox/?p=1042

We are combating pests of all kinds here at the library, and while food may not be the only culprit, it certainly doesn’t help in the fight.

The tables near the DVDs and leisure books are too close to browse comfortably.

Thanks for the suggestion. You may have noticed some big changes in the leisure book section lately.

While the café closed for summer renovations, all furniture that was not bolted down was moved into the entry way and leisure book section of the library. The renovations are now done, and the café has taken back its furniture.

In addition, with recent consolidation of our reference section, we’ve moved leisure books to an area that used to be devoted to reference books. You’ll now find the latest in leisure reading on the first shelf to the right of the reference desk as you enter the library. A spiffy new sign will go up soon.

I want to eat lunch and study.

Thanks for the comment. I hear you. Eating while studying is convenient, and it can be annoying to have to take a break when you’re on roll. However, we simply can’t allow lunch in the main parts of the library. It causes too many problems, the worst of which include cockroaches, mice, and piles of greasy, smelly garbage. GROSS!

Our job here at the library is to make sure you have the research tools and resources you need to get a great education. If we shift our focus to running a dining facility, you lose out on your education. There are lots of places to eat on campus; there’s only one library. Now that the café is open you have a dedicated space attached to the library to eat your lunch.

I commend the library for adding more tables in the open area on the second floor. However, one of the tables has something glued to its surface making two of the spaces unusable. If this “thing” is not necessary, it should be removed for maximum space utilization.

Thanks for pointing this out. We’re not sure what that thing is or whether it can be removed. We’ll remove the table and replace it with a less weathered one.