David Wilson Library Survival Guide

In my second year of uni I became a bit of a hermit at the David Wilson Library (or ‘libs’ as it will be called from now on). I was in there every week day and most weekends, 9am-5pm and then 7pm to 1am. It was undoubtedly hardwork, but since I am now going into my third year on a high 2.1 and realistically aiming for a first overall in my degree, it was definitely worth it. So, since I basically spent an entire year sitting on floor 2 of the libs, even spending a couple of 24hr days in there, I thought I’d give you a few tips on how to survive the David Wilson Library.

Find A Good Seat

Everyone has the own preference on where to sit in the libs, I personally prefer to sit in the open areas on floor 2 and 3, which provide the perfect balance between concentration and distractions. However, some people like to spend all their time on curled up on the sofas reading their notes, or constantly in the computer rooms to avoid lugging their laptop in everyday. Just try to find your perfect spot in which you can work, but also make sure to switch it up if you find yourself losing concentration.

Snacks

So technically it’s against the rules to eat in the libs, and as much as I am against someone cracking open a 3 day old curry in a warm and packed library, I think it’s important to have a few snacks on hand to get you through a stressful revision session. The best kind of food is small sweets or cereal bars, basically anything that you can either share, eat quickly or makes minimal noise when opening.

Library Cafe

The library cafe is open everyday, and is a great place to get a break and place to eat without actually leaving the library area, as going for a walk around Vicky Park for a 10 minute break normally ends up with you going home for a few hours before returning. Also, when the cafe stops serving food, the area is still open for chilling and doing work throughout the night – and the perfect place to get a delivery of pizza at 2am.

Study Rooms

There are study rooms on every floor of the library, which provide a perfect place for group work and revision sessions during exam times. Throughout the term you can usually get away with booking a room the day before you need it, but during exam time you definitely want to be booking those rooms up to a week in advance.

Comfy Clothes

Even the most fashionable person on campus will regret wearing skinny jeans and heeled boots when learning derivatives at 9pm, so make sure to wear comfy clothes when planning an all-night revision session. Also, the temperature in the libs can change constantly, so be sure to pack layers for when you go from having a stress induced hot flush, to being hit by a cold breeze from the air conditioned study rooms.

Headphones and Chargers

Whether you like listening to music or not when revising, headphones are the perfect way to stop people talking to you when you’re trying to concentrate, they’re also great when you want to watch a GCSE bitesize video to understand third year level history context. Also, pack any chargers and other electronics that you could ever need, there’s nothing worse than being on a good work grind to be interrupted by a notification telling you that your laptops about to die.

These are just a few tips to start your preparations for when the time comes that you basically move into David Wilson Library and start paying them rent. There are obviously alternative places all over campus in which you can work, including; Chi, the SU and any empty tutorial or computer room you can find. Can’t wait to see you all in the libs over the next few months, I’ll be the girl who looks like she hasn’t left in three days (probably because I haven’t…).