Quiet floor studiers, rejoice! Thanks to a generous donation from Northeastern parents, the third floor now has 20 new tables, 80 new chairs, and additional outlets. The new furniture features subtle design improvements that make a world of difference for the student experience.
Here’s why we think you will love the new study space:
1. There’s more usable study space
With visits to Snell Library increasing each year, their gift funded the reconfiguration of thousands of square feet — answering the demand for more study space! The new tables and chairs are perfect for quiet study on the third floor.
2. The clean, modern look
The new chairs and frosted partitions give this new study space a clean, modern, aesthetic. And of course, these features aren’t just nice to look at; they are functional, too!
3. These are some comfortable chairs
Yup, that’s a cushion, and it is super comfortable. The chairs are lightweight while offering plenty of plush support.
4. The partitions prevent large groups from forming on the quiet floor
Groups don’t always mean to be noisy… But it happens. The new partitions remind students that the third floor is for individual and quiet “parallel” study, not group gatherings and conversations.
5. The partitions encourage table sharing
Some students like to spread out, (you know who you are) and hey, we understand. It’s nice to see all of your study material at once. However, we also know how it feels when you can’t find space in Club Snell, especially during midterms and finals. The new partitions will prevent single studiers from occupying an entire table during busy periods, leaving more room for their peers!
6. You get more privacy
Though it is small, the partition does create privacy. The person across from you can’t see what you’re working on, and you won’t be distracted by your table-mate’s rainbow of post-its or choice of study snack.
Come try out the new furniture on the third floor! We’d love to hear what you think. Comment here or tweet us
@ClubSnell. Enjoy the new study space, and we’ll see you soon!
The following is a series written by archivists, academics, activists, and educators making available primary source material, providing pedagogical support, and furthering the understanding of Boston Public School’s Desegregation history.
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The 2014-2015 school year marked the 40th anniversary of Boston Public School (BPS)’s court-ordered school desegregation. To commemorate this event, BPS is building a multi-grade curricular unit for students to study the city’s school desegregation and “busing” crisis. Before this unit was created, students learned about integration efforts only through the case study of Little Rock, AK. Neglecting to address, understand, and own Boston’s own civil rights struggles perpetuates the notion that the Civil Rights Movement targeted injustice and segregation only in the South, when in truth, Boston’s struggles were equally important and difficult.
To assist this effort, Northeastern’s University Archives and Special Collections is coordinating a multi-archive scanning project whose goal is to make available archival material that relates to what how and why busing happened in Boston, as well as the after effects it had on the community. The goal is to create a digital library of material that can be widely disseminated for both curricular and scholarly use.
This effort has been made possible by a gift from the Boston Library Consortium (BLC), whose leadership has been essential to this project.
This School Desegregation and ”Busing” Digital Library is a lightweight, nimble project that attempts to lay the technical and descriptive groundwork for cross-institutional collaboration through the technical infrastructure of the DPLA and Digital Commonwealth. It also serves as the kernel of what all hope becomes a long-standing collaboration between BPS and local archives. In an ideal world, all 57,000 BPS students visit an archive during their K-12 years. Realistically, digitizing this material allows teachers unfettered access to a deep pool of primary source material which can inspire students to learn more about the history of their own city and become emerging leaders.
The BLC members initiating this effort are University Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston, the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections, The State Library of Massachusetts’ Special Collections, and Boston College’s John J. Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections. Additional archival partners include The Moakley Archive and Institute at Suffolk University and the Boston City Archives.
Partner institutions are scanning material that illuminate the complexity of state- and city-wide politics, community activism and advocacy, and all parties’ reactions to national and local legislation. The time frame covered originates with the Brown v. Board of Education decision (1954), works through the Civil Rights Act (1964), into and past the Morgan v. Hennigan case (1974), and the resulting citywide unrest. The collection aims to illustrate the reaction of politicians, school staff and administrators, parents and community members to desegregation by busing.
To watch the growing collection of items that is Northeastern’s contribution to this effort, please visit the University’s Digital Repository.
— Giordana Mecagni is Head of Special Collections and University Archivist at Northeastern University
