I used to have a theory. It was a theory which worked more often than it failed, and appeared to explain a particular phenomenon which I recognised in a great many people. The theory could be stated as follows: however you study in your final year of high school determines how you study in university. Those who prepared for their dreaded final exams in libraries would stick to studying in libraries long after graduation, while those who failed to separate their room from their personal storage of practice papers would continue to study next to their bed well into the deepest darkest hour of the night. Yes, the content of our learning changes, everything else alongside it, but our study habits prove stubbornly consistent. Being an avowed room-studier all throughout high school, I struggle to recall even a single instance of studying in a library last year, a trend which I thought would continue well into the future.

But then, something changed.

This year, my room no longer presented itself as a sanctuary of study. Distractions multiplied, reels were consumed at a level never before thought humanly possible, and my overall productivity was at an all-time low. In a desperate attempt to save my academic career, I did the only thing I could think of. I started — for the first time in my life — studying at libraries and in the process I’ve fallen in love with these brilliant vestiges of human knowledge.

Perhaps a brief history of libraries is in order?

To begin with, in the days before late-night cramming and white Monster energy drinks, libraries were a sacred place not to be desecrated by enough caffeine to kill a small African elephant. In ancient Mesopotamia, clay tablets depicting foundational myths, histories and early legal writs were stored in temple archives — early evidence of our human tendency to preserve and protect knowledge. The Library of Alexandria, mythical in scope and tragic in its demise, was an honest attempt to collect all the world’s wisdom. Centuries later, medieval monasteries created scriptoriums to copy and protect religious texts of the highest importance. The entry of the Renaissance into the canon of history exploded both literacy and learning, expanding the need for libraries too. However, it was only in the 19th century that access to knowledge became a democratic project.

Okay, so now that libraries are democratic, who are the people who actually use them?

What do people who go to the gym and people who go to the library have in common? Neither will shut up about it! Indeed, telling others that you have just, “been to the library,” or alternatively, “are just going to the library,” or perhaps most frightening of all, “have just been to the library but will be going back shortly,” bestows upon you as the speaker a deep feeling of learned wisdom, academic vigour and unfounded superiority.

I said unfounded, but is that actually true? Just how important a role does the place where you study play in how well you study?

We can now turn to a very short and snarky analysis of the different types of study spaces

Your Room: The default. It’s personal, it’s comfy, it’s close to home, but similarly dangerously close to your bed and your fridge. Here, there is a high potential for distractions, particularly with nobody watching you procrastinate.

Café: Good for ambient noise lovers, with studies showing that moderate background noise can actually boost creative thinking. However, can your budget and your bowels sustain four flat whites a day? Probably not.

Outside: If you study outside, you are either insane, an arts student, or more likely, both.

Library: Quiet, structured, and filled with the buzz of collective effort, libraries signal seriousness. On a more personal note, I find the ability to look up from my desk and over to actual books inspiring. While I do consider myself a bibliophile, and so many beautiful books are doubtless a feast for the eyes, I am far more moved by the hard work and effort of the people whose names score the spines. To see and be able to reach out to actual human knowledge, to centuries of work which aims to understand, to inspire and aid, and to see this effort democratised for the next generation to build upon — this fills me with a passionate enthusiasm for my own academic pursuits -– so that even my weekly readings appear doable for once.

So yeah, I now love libraries, but what about the science behind it — what do the studies say?

Beyond these immaculate vibes, the case for library study ruling supreme does have empirical backing. It has been shown that libraries foster deeper learning by minimising distraction and encouraging prolonged engagement, student motivation and academic performance, as they are spaces ultimately designed with comfort, lighting, and acoustics in mind. Here, attention is drawn to the key role which architecture plays in shaping productivity. The best libraries aren’t just rooms with books, but carefully constructed environments for intellectual flourishing.

Now we can turn to the final, more practical dimension: what are the best library study spots at the ANU?

While we cannot boast any centuries old, gothic architecture inspired, ‘Napoleon once rode through this very aisle of books on horseback’ libraries, the buildings and spaces that we have available to us are nonetheless incredible. Please find my definitive (but debatable) ranking of some of my most beloved libraries on campus — some are not necessarily libraries but are rather buildings which I find well suited for study purposes.

1. Law Library 

My favourite study space on campus, and by far the quietest of all the libraries. Not as busy as Chifley, but similarly open for 24 hours a day, the warm wooden study booths have been optimally designed to minimise distraction and optimise productivity. Nothing’s more beautiful than the way the sunlight falls through the trees outside and filters past the blinds on an afternoon well spent in this temple of solitude.

2. Menzies Library Main Reading Room 

A similar level of quiet as the law library, but far more vast and open, the main reading room on the ground floor of the Menzies Library is marked by its impressively large calligraphy print, which hangs above the long rows of tables like a watchful master or an order of supreme discipline. In my opinion, this is a great space to do readings, the only downside being its limited opening hours.

3. Chifley Level 3 Reading Room 

The only part of Chifley that doesn’t fill me with unbelievable sadness and dread, and often the only part of Chifley that isn’t full 100 percent of the time. This space has everything you love about this building that you hate, including the trademark fluoro lights that make you feel like you might be in a hospital.

4. Birch Building 

The Birch Building is an excellent place to pull up a chair and study every now and then. Quite possibly the most stylish and futuristic building on campus, feel free to spend your study breaks admiring the brilliant fusion of art and technology decorating the building.

5. Robertson Building

I discovered the majesty of the R.N. Robertson Building only recently, though it is quickly becoming a new favourite of mine. Only one word needs to be used to describe why this building stands out — plants. For those who love to study surrounded by some greenery, but can’t fully commit to the performative nature of studying next to Sully’s, this might just be the next best thing.

A final word for you to loan, know you need not return it:

Whether you’re a lifelong library lover or a café crawler who desperately needs to lock in, consider this a gentle invitation. An invitation to return or to venture out, to experiment with those spaces designed expressly for what we are here at university to do despite the fact that we so often don’t — to study.