When the library was completed in 1973, the Guinness Book of World Records dubbed it the tallest library in the world; it is still the tallest library in the United States, standing proud at 297 feet.
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In praise of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library
Students seeking refuge from schlepping backpacks around campus, or in need of a break between classes, labs, sports, and study, can always find a comfy home at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. And we do mean always: The building is open nearly around the clock during the academic year. It is the tallest point on the campus’s skyline, a beacon seen from miles away.
Many visitors to the 28-story tower beeline past the info kiosk and nifty electronic book checkouts to Procrastination Station, the café. The latter is chock full of snacks, tea, and java: 77,882 cups of local Rao’s coffee were sold last school year, to be exact. The café is a prime meeting place and a great pit stop for cramming between classes.
Next to the café, stairs lead down to the recently expanded Learning Commons on the lower level. There, more than 200 computers are loaded with the latest software thanks to an $895,000 Microsoft grant. There are areas for groups to meet—whether two students wish to huddle over a computer or 10 need to meet in a room with a projector. The Learning Commons is so popular and lively that special quiet study areas were created on the second and third floors to offset the bustle. And this year, the library went fully wireless, so students can power up anywhere in the stacks.
If you want the best view of the Pioneer Valley, head up to the 23rd floor—the highest floor with a view in all four directions. Elevators shuttle library-goers up and down, but for the more energetic, climbing the stairs burns about 93 calories. According to the folks over at the Department of Kinesiology, you’d have to walk the library twice to burn off a glazed donut from the café.
With more than six million items in the UMass Amherst library collections—from books to periodicals, maps to government documents, sound recordings to microforms—the library surely has more than enough to satisfy every interest (and homework assignment). To boot, there are more than 80,000 e-journals and more than 200 databases available, as well as any material from the nearby four colleges.
– David Bartone ’11G