Rooms in the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library that were previously available for student use have been converted into offices.
Throughout last year, three study rooms in the basement of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library (OWHL) were converted into offices. These rooms were previously available for student use.
Camille Torres Hoven, Director of the OWHL, explained that the change was made to accommodate the OWHL’s full staff. She noted that the change would be temporary, as renovations in Graves Hall and George Washington Hall (GW) are expected to create more office space.
“The OWHL has been operating without a full staff since I started three years ago, and with new hires, we needed additional office space. Some of our existing offices weren’t functional for meetings or technology needs. This was not an easy decision, but it is a temporary one. Once GW and Graves are renovated, some offices will move out of the OWHL. We’ll be able to restore a better balance of offices and study rooms—and potentially add new student spaces in those buildings as well,” wrote Torres Hoven in an email to The Phillipian
For Samantha Gong ’28, the study rooms had been a place to escape from the noise of the library and spend time working and connecting with others. She expressed her frustrations about finding alternative spaces to study and socialize, especially as a day student without a dorm.
“Where am I supposed to go?… [I’m] not happy about it because that was an important study space. People like the study rooms. There were a lot of people in it last year. There’s a reason for that, because sometimes what you need isn’t everything that’s going on in the library [but] just some space to yourself, your group members, or perhaps even your friends if it’s not a busy day. I’ve been going to Falls [Music Center],” said Gong.
Gong continued, “[Removing the rooms is] just not a useful way to promote the ‘all-in’ community. Because I don’t know [about] anyone else, but I personally haven’t been hanging out as much or even doing as much work with friends or group members [this year] because that was the space I relied on last year.”
Despite the study rooms’ popularity as study spaces, Colin Lee ’28 shared that students did not always use them productively. He mentioned that other spaces in the library felt more beneficial for his academic work.
“Oftentimes, the study rooms were not being used intentionally. You just went to see if your friends were in there. If your friends were in there, you’d pull up and go mess around. People weren’t really using them to actively meet up with groups… I don’t really think it took away anything too valuable, except for the unique resources [of] the rooms, which were the whiteboards for small groups and the TVs,” said Lee.
Regardless of their usage as study spaces, Alfonso Gonzalez-Cano ’27 expressed his confusion about this uncommunicated change. He suggested that the OWHL administration consult with students before making such decisions.
“They should run a poll on it. They should get some student body involvement. Ideally, we should have separate office spaces for the staff and we should get the study rooms back, or at least a replacement. We have roughly a thousand one hundred kids in the entire school, and we only have three study rooms with whiteboards in the entirety of the library. That is not a lot,” said Gonzalez-Cano.
Torres Hoven acknowledged that students may feel frustrated due to this change. She highlighted her intention to support students to the best of her ability.
“I knew it would be disappointing for students, and that’s never easy. I always try to keep students at the center of my decisions. But there was a real need for functional office space, and I do believe this is a temporary trade-off. I appreciate students’ flexibility and understanding. The goal is always to support both student learning and faculty, staff, and admin in their work for the community to support teaching and learning, and I’m optimistic that in the future we’ll have more—and even better—spaces for everyone,” wrote Torres Hoven.
