It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that libraries are social hubs on college campuses. One of the most common answers to the question “Where are you going?” is "the library," but we all know that not all library-dwellers are created equal. They come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities, and most of them fit into one of a few stereotypes.
1. The Clueless Student
We all know what these look like. They’re the ones running around asking everyone in sight where to find the section of the library with the actual books is because their five-page research paper is due tomorrow and they haven’t started.
2. The Crammers
These are the students speed walking between their tables and the printers because they have 29 assignments due tomorrow and they waited until the last minute to finish and print all of them. They’re also the ones who keep everyone else from using the printers because they stand in front of them while their 29 documents use up all the ink and paper. It’s okay. I’m not bitter.
3. The Groupies
Every library has group study sessions going on. They want you to think that they’re all studying together and being productive when really they’re watching cat videos on YouTube and talking about how that one professor is so ridiculous. We can all hear them from every corner of the library and we all despise them for distracting us with their distracted-ness.
4. The Prowlers
The only reason these people step into the library is because they’re hoping to find their next crush. Even though the rest of us know that the library is not the time or the place to be looking for a hookup, they somehow haven’t caught on because they continue to draw attention to themselves by flirting with anything that moves within a 10-foot radius. Ladies, you never really know if they’re whistling at you, or at the librarian who happened to walk by at the same time. And fellas, who knows if she’s giggling at you? It could be that she’s just now getting the joke that her professor told in class this morning.
5. The Socialites
These are the people that come to the library with no intentions of doing any work at all, ever. They don’t even carry a backpack…weird… They float around, looking for the next person they’re going to distract with their meaningless banter. All you can really do is try to shrink into a corner and hope they don’t see you, because you know that once you make eye contact, it’s all over.
6. The Nerds
There’s no way to miss seeing the nerds in the library. They’re the ones who are actually studying, the ones drawing structures and formulas on the white boards and then erasing and drawing them again. They’re also the ones who get slightly annoyed when you interrupt their studying with idle chit-chat. Don’t you dare get between them and their A’s…unless you bring a peace offering, like coffee.
You and I may not fit into any of these categories, but we all know for a fact that these people are out there, living for the moment when the doors will open again so they can begin their daily routines.
