A typical phone conversation between a mother and their college kid:

Mom: Hey, what are you up to tonight?

Kid: Oh, just going to the library.

Mom: Oh that's good. Test? Paper?

Kid: Uhhh, well, yeah, big test on uhhh, Thursday? Yeah. Thursday. And finishing a paper due Wednesday.

Mom: What's all that noise?

Kid: Oh, the paper, yeah it's a group paper. So some friends and I are working on it together.

Mom: (highly skeptical but trying oh so hard to trust her child) Alright, good luck, have fun.

If it wasn't for the library, our college years would be down the shooter. The phrase "going to the library" is not a phrase to be taken lightly in college. Whether it be used to cover up our actual plans for the night, or if used in all seriousness, this golden phrase has several connotations. Among some of the most popular are:

1. A way to skip class in order to play catch-up on all the work that's been put off for the last, uhh semester.

It's called prioritizing.

2. An excuse to talk to that cute girl or hot guy in one of your classes.

Hey girl, wanna get together and study? Library on Monday? Without the library you'd have to pay for a first date or something crazy like that. This one's friendly on that college budget.

3. A sly way of indicating you're really about to go out.

Still convinced there needs to be a college bar named "The Library," so in all actuality, you'd never be lying.

4. You ran out of meal points and need some free complimentary mints to hold you over until your next paycheck.

A sure fire way to rid of the freshman 15 you packed on at the beginning of the year.

5. To make it look like you're smart and that you have your life together.

You might just stare at the pictures in your books, but it's all about that sexy intelligence reputation, you know? Make sure you throw in some occasional stressed sighs to indicate your brain is really working up a sweat.

6. To pay that ridiculous fine for forgetting to return that research book on philosophical theories that has been in such high demand since the last time it was checked out in 1947.

You opened it. It smelled musty. Really musty. So you closed it. Put it away. Forgot about it. And now you must starve for dinner because your Chick-fil-A funds were just robbed from you by the librarian.

7. To rent the movie of the 300-page book you were supposed to have read by Monday.

No matter which way you use it, the phrase "going to the library" is really about saving you in desperate times. The library is your life raft when college has you scrambling to survive.