A Night in Miller Library

Miller Library is the most recognizable building on the College’s campus and one of the tallest structures in Maine. More than just an academic hub, it houses the humanities and social sciences departments alongside the College’s archives, special collections, and robotics lab. In the system that is Colby College, Miller Library functions as its beating heart. Each night, Miller acts as the College’s most frequented and relied-upon study space. 

Every weekday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., students can be found studying in the historic library. Students have the choice between studying on Miller Street (the ground floor level), the first floor, the second floor, the third floor, or in one of the sheltered classrooms or cubicles littered throughout the library. Miller Library is full of random spaces, ready for students to use. 

Many students describe a kind of phenomenon in Miller Library where time seems to become relative and hours slip by unnoticed. Colin Kane `28 is an avid late-night Miller Library studier. He explained that “it’s easy to lose track of time until the workers sweep the building at 1 a.m., kicking everyone out.” He admits, “this happens to me more often than you’d expect.” Kane usually opts to do work on the second and third floor of the library, depending on the workload. 

Each level of Miller appeals to a different audience, and time moves differently the farther up you go. 

Miller Street, the library’s ground floor, typically acts as a giant hallway for people commuting from the north side of campus to the south side. It is a place where students can usually be found sitting at tables, headphones on, doing homework. Theo Ornstein `28 explains that he likes to work in Miller Street because “it is easy to be in and out.” Ornestin is “never there for more than an hour at a time.” The constant flow of commuters walking through can be overwhelming and distracting, though.

One floor up is where many students find themselves studying at the long wide tables positioned along the back wall or in the Brewster Family Reading Room. At this level of the library, talking is permitted. Isha Krishnamurthy `27, a learning assistant for Psychology 111, has found that the first floor is her ideal study space. Every day of the week, Krishnamurthy will position herself at the high tables on the first floor and make herself available to any Psych students with questions about the course material. 

“After that, I kind of just find a spot somewhere on the first floor, and depending on what I have coming up, I study.” Krishnamurthy, a biology and French major with a minor in chemistry, finds that the whiteboards scattered throughout the first floor are imperative to her study sessions. “I like to write all my material out on them,” she explains. Krishnamurthy will spend upwards of two hours each night on the first floor of Miller before driving back to her apartment downtown. 

The second floor of Miller is — technically — supposed to be a quieter space, with multiple four person tables spread out uniformly. Josie Kim `29 explained that it gets “very loud.” She points out, “On tours, the guides say that Miller is a stereotypical library where sound dampens as you go up, but that’s not true.” To get any work done, Kim can usually be found sitting at a table with her teammates, armed with noise-cancelling headphones. Nighttime on the second floor typically operates as a place for freshmen looking to mingle. 

Students’ final option as to where they will study is the library’s silent third floor. Freshman Dosia Fennel `29 finds the second floor of the library to be an unproductive study space past 6 p.m. Conscious of its tendency to turn into a freshman social hour, she opts for the third floor, saying, “It’s a good space to be productive — there is not really any conversation, so it is a great environment to do your work independently while surrounded by people who are also focused.” 

While the ultimate goal when going to Miller Library is to get work done, students appreciate the social benefit of studying in a place like Miller Library. “The best part about a night in Miller is the people you’re there with. It becomes a social hub for group work, helping out with homework, and wasting time with friends,” Kane admits. 

By the time the lights go out at 1 a.m. and students file out into the cold, making their way back to their respective dorms, Miller has quietly done its job. After holding a full day’s worth of stress, homework, and small moments of connection within its walls, it stands empty and utterly silent. Miller Library is not just where students at the College study, but it’s also where the rhythm of campus life plays out, one long night at a time.

 

~ Molly Garvey `28