Five Senses of ZSR Library Ground Floor

It’s Five Senses Friday, Daily Deacdom. I spent some time late yesterday afternoon on the ground floor of ZSR, taking in the sights, sounds, etc. of my beloved ZSR Library. I started out in Camino Bakery and ended in the atrium. Hope you can read this and feel like you were there with me. Note: the pics I am including are from the archive, not ones I took yesterday.

I see…

• Only women in the bottom floor of Camino. There are empty tables and chairs on the lower level, some empties at the big tall table, and also in the loft. All of that strikes me as very odd indeed.
• Several twosomes of female students are sitting at the small tables having coffee and conversation.
• As I look at student attire, I notice shorts are SHORT this year, y’all. Even some of the guys are wearing them shorter now.
• Speaking of shorts, I saw two distinct kinds on our young women: denim shorts with lots of fraying at the edges, and a flouncy short skort, similar to the kind I saw in this NY Times article about Alabama’s rush week. [Aside, I am overjoyed that jeans shorts have made a return, after they had been shunned by students in the last several years. If loving denim shorts is wrong, I don’t want to be right.]
• Female students hugging each other hello, as if they hadn’t seen each other in a long time.
• After 5-10 minutes, I finally see a male student walk in to Camino. But he’s just using it as a cut through to get to the exit nearest Tribble Hall. He doesn’t stay.
• Lots of tank tops on female students. It is hot out, and I get it. Midriff-baring is back as a style point (and to these students’ credit, they are in the best shape of their lives).
• [As I moved to the atrium] Empty tables in the atrium at 4:30, which surprised me. I take a seat at the far end. There are some people at the tables around me, mostly in 1s and 2s. No one talks.
• Some students have earbuds in, others have big external headphones. To each their own.
• At the opposite end of the atrium, students at tables are having conversations that seem to be more social than studying. I can see animated talking.
• A solitary person walking across the catwalk connecting the old and new wings of the library. Later I see one of my favorite librarians on the catwalk opposite, and I hear their distinctive laugh, but they don’t see me.
• Some of the top floor semi-circle study nooks that hang over the atrium are occupied. I can see tops of heads, or backs. [I am afraid of heights and I never would have studied there. I get a bit creeped out just looking at them.]
• Zip up hoodies, or overshirts that can be put on or removed depending on the student’s tolerance of the air conditioning. Temps can vary between buildings. It’s wise to have a shirt just in case.
• Sad, withered flowers on the formerly resplendent hydrangeas just outside the end of the atrium windows. They are brown and wilty.

I hear…

• A female voice exclaiming “HIIIIIII! How ARE you????” to a student who has just arrived.
• Chatter from some of the conversations, but not enough to really know what is going on. I hear snippets like “I actually don’t know, but I was like…” or “And THEN…”
• Baristas calling out orders: “matcha latte,” and then a student saying “did you order almond milk?” to their friend waiting on their order. I appear to be one of the only people who ordered a hot drink.
• A deep male voice ordering at the register.
• A student telling their friend “it’s like signing your life away” and something about their father’s office. I wish I heard more of the conversation, or at least more context.
• A trio of female students after they get their drinks and are walking out: “Where do you want to sit? We can go outside…” And another saying “Let’s talk about lastnight…” I hear a faint “You just pay the cover” as they left.
• Students thanking the barista as they get their drinks.
• The sharp metallic clank! of the doors to Camino as it opens and closes.
• [As I moved to the atrium] Jingling of keys as someone walks by my table. Then the sound of sneakers squeaking across the atrium floor.
• The whirring of what I am guessing is an unseen water cooler
• A loud building alarm going off when a student accidentally tried to use an emergency exit (that they must have thought was just a regular door outside).
• The sound of a heavy door opening and closing. It appears to be to the IS Service desk, where students take their Wake Ware laptops for repairs.
• A sudden burst of loud laughter from the chatty table at the opposite end of the atrium. I can hear both male and female voices laughing.
• Soft footsteps and muted conversation as pairs of students walk up or down the main stairs to the Wilson Wing (i.e., the newer section of the building). I am reminded of how much I love its namesake, Ed Wilson (’43), legendary professor of Romantic poetry.
• Then a louder male voice saying “YEAH!” with gusto.
• Sounds of pages turning in books. I have definitely picked the quiet part of the atrium if I can pick that noise out from the surrounding tables. I also catch a hint of highlighter-cap-being-put-back-on, a quick click!
• Only one cough the whole time I was there – maybe 30 minutes, and not one sneeze. Which is odd for this time of year, because the approach to fall brings allergies to many new students who aren’t used to our pollen/trees/leaves.
• The sound of fabric on fabric – a student is sliding their backpack off and putting it on the table. Student then walks away, leaving it unattended on the table, and I wish they hadn’t done that. Happily, they are only gone a minute or two.
• A soda can being set down on the table, then a short metallic swiiiiish as the student slides it into place. A few seconds later, I hear the distinctive sound of the can being opened, a rush of air and carbonated bubbles.

I feel…

• [In the atrium] A great deal of sympathy for the student who accidentally set off the emergency alarm. They rushed out of the atrium as quickly as the could, no doubt embarrassed. I wanted to tell them it was a new student mistake and they would be fine.
• OMG, these atrium library chairs, y’all. They are SOOOO comfortable. They have mesh backs and a good deal of padding in the seat. You could spend several hours in this chair and still would feel good. ZSR did our students a solid with these chairs.
• Pleased to see a young man hold the door open for his female companion as I was leaving ZSR. This does not look like a romantic relationship, more just politeness. I pass on that sense of goodwill to the next person and hold the door open for them.

I smell…

• A strong scent of black tea being brewed in Camino. Later I see a barista walking by with what looks like a huge vat of tea.
• A comforting coffee smell from my own cup.
• [As I was leaving the atrium] As I prepare to leave and walk by the stacks of books, the distinct “old book” smell that is ZSR hits me, and I feel like I am 18 again and studying on the 3rd floor in the English lit stacks. Funny how smells take you back that way.

I taste…

• A Camino Bakery cherry cordial cappuccino. Which is a flavor I had been dying to try but just hadn’t yet. Oddly enough, it tasted a bit like a pumpkin spice coffee. It was good – just not as cherry as I was expecting.

A reminder to all our new Deac families, as you and your student think about times of the week that it would be good to have a phone call, let me suggest that Friday afternoon is a great time for that. Read why. Also, P’26s were sent this message about living and learning supports available to their students.

Have a great weekend!

— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)

August 26, 2022