Study spaces are scarce as final exam crunchtime nears

It’s almost finals season and USC libraries are already packed full of students studying. For students who want a quiet study space on campus during daytime or nighttime, the libraries are their best choice.

But it’s not always easy to find an ideal study spot.

“Leavey is very, very crowded. I look all the way up to the top to try and find the seats. I like that there are outlets, but often they only have those little chairs [next to them]. I prefer to work at the desks with the outlets,” said Kate Peterson, a sophomore studying political science.

“I have really liked Doheny. I feel like I do good work there. But the thing I have trouble with is finding a place to charge my computer,” said Emma Fallon, a sophomore studying political science.

Fallon suggested the school open up more spaces indoors and advertise spaces that students don’t know about.

“I feel like students mainly only know that there’s Doheny and Leavey when there are other libraries,” Fallon said.

On the r/USC Reddit page, students are already complaining about the lack of late-night study areas. “Why are there not more buildings open late for studying?” asked Reddit user Parking_savior129 on November 6, which got upvoted 115 times by other users. Under the post, students shared locations that open late at night, such as the Ronald Tutor Campus Center and the Center for International and Public Affairs.

Of the 18 libraries listed on the USC Libraries website, only Leavey Library is open 24 hours on weekdays for students who want to study at night, which makes it crowded even late at night. Doheny Library, which is another popular library for students to study, closes at 10 p.m. or earlier.

But the lack of study space isn’t unique to Trojans. Leon Wu, a sophomore studying business and computer science at UC Berkeley, said, “It’s a bit hard to find a spot in the library, but if you’re willing to go to libraries that are less popular, there will be spaces…At night, there are a lot of people in the library as well, even at 2 a.m.”

One graduate student who completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa said the problem persists there, as well. “While I think the University of Iowa’s main libraries are a little bit more full of resources and facilities that you can use, the sheer number of different libraries on USC campus kind of makes up for it,” said Kuper Bergman, a master’s student in East Asian area studies.

“USC has a huge student body, bigger than I want to say UCLA and UCSB because my family’s familiar with those schools. But I’ve noticed that it’s a relatively small campus. I do think it’s hard because we are limited with space,” Peterson said.

Besides Leavey and Doheny, students have found other places to study during the daytime.

“[The library] is usually packed to the brim. So I usually end up either sitting outside at a table with someone or I’ll sit at one of the little aisle seats before you get into the main rooms,” said Carina Vo-Ta, a junior studying communication.

“I feel like L.A. has such beautiful weather and I always find myself studying outside on the Annenberg patio or the SCA patio,” Peterson said.