Your guide to study spaces on campus during deadline week

Just like learning your new timetables and lecture locations each semester is hard, it can be quite hard to find somewhere to work during the busy months of November, December and January.

However, you don’t need to learn this the hard way because I will break it down to you in this mini 'guide'.

The Hartley Library is the place the majority of students come to study at some point and thus why it in these days is getting increasingly hard to find a seat on any of the five massive floors.

The course collection is where you have everything you need nearby – each desk has a socket, there are two printers and all of the compulsory books for modules should be in there for you to use. This explains why it can be hard to find a seat here after 10 o’clock on a normal day! That’s why you have the four other floors to find a seat. Not all desks will have sockets, but the University has been refurbishing the library over summer so increasingly more seats do, including all of Level 3.

I have still managed to find seats in the library around noon, but as exams and final deadlines are approaching, you need to arrive earlier and earlier in the library to get a seat. That is why some of the four other libraries the University have might be a better choice for you depending on your course.

Humanities have the Avenue Library, Ocean and Earth science have the NOC library, health related subjects have the Health Services Library and all Winchester-based students have their own library at WSA.

The key things to remember; wrap up, bring food and water for a couple of hours of work, and don’t give up on finding a seat (unless you’ve been through all five floors - the closer we get to the end of term, the earlier you need to be there.)

If, against all odds, you can’t find a seat in the library, there are other options. Depending on how well you work with noise around you there are plenty of cafés on campus to work in; Costa Coffee, Starbucks or the Arlott for example. The Arlott is quite (read: very) busy during lunchtimes, but after noon and early in the mornings it is quite a pleasant place to work. Costa, on the other hand, is busy from 10am 'til late.

There are also common rooms in each building. Beware, they get quite busy as well, but are great places to get some work done in between lectures or if you have group work. The newly refurbished bit in Building 58, for example, is very nice.

For Freshers it is worth knowing that your halls usually have some designated study places, which can be more convenient to visit than the library.

May the odds be ever in your favour when finding a spot to study on campus, and good luck to everyone with their deadlines!

Alexandra