Find the perfect new spot to lose your mind this semester
Can’t stand to look at your favourite study space after fall term? Have no fear. We’ve compiled a list of all the best study spaces at the law school to aid your brave exploration of places to sit and pretend to do your readings. Are we biased? Absolutely.
The Fishbowl™
What else is there to say about this glass tank of misery that hasn’t already been said? Although it might be the only place in the library that gets natural light, this is not the place for sunny attitudes. The quiet pools of the room are home to schools of scholarly fry, heavily focused on the task at hand, consuming as much knowledge as humanly possible at the last possible moment, late into the night. Be wary about making any noise and attracting attention to yourself. These fish may not be carnivorous, but they’re certainly competitive and ready to snap.
Rating: 2 stars (points docked for the weird buzzing caused by the heating system)
The Beach
Who said the Beach needs to be a relaxing place? Located directly behind the Fishbowl™, this area has played host to many sessions of communal suffering just before the written work deadline. Come stress together, share snacks, and learn that everyone in your Advanced Constitutional Law Seminar had the brilliant and original idea of writing about proportionality. You may be able to absorb some wisdom from the many stacks of historical legislation that loom over the space. If you’re lucky, you may even meet a rodent eager to Ratatouille you through your cold calls.
Rating: 4 stars (exhausted camaraderie is its own kind of special)
The Grotto
This is the basement stacks of the library and contains all the books you might actually need. It’s full of quiet cubicles and home to an elevator shaft that these writers have definitely never used to make a quick private phone call (thank you, remote DLS). You see it on your way to class. People are inside, but you can never find the entrance. We’re not going to tell you where it is. Finding those doors is its own journey that every law student needs to undertake on their own.
Rating: 4.5 stars (for secrecy)
The Eagle’s Nest
Climb the stairs of the library and gaze down upon the poor chum in the Fishbowl™. Up here, no one can touch you. The air is cool and crisp. The bathroom wait times are shorter. Sometimes everyone plays a fun game of musical chairs with seating from the Cabins—see below. You may one day find yourself lucky enough to bask in the beautiful, revolving, cushioned wonderfulness. The cons? Etiquette dictates that sometimes people must chat with each other up here. We don’t make the rules. Also, did we mention you have to climb stairs?
Rating: 3 stars (our legs are tired)
The Deck
As you stroll into the library, enjoy the sights of the rows of computer monitors and standing desks available for the pleasure of your back and eyesight. This is a place for extroverts and influencers—those who want to see and be seen chatting with everyone who steps foot in the space. The lack of working room on the desks can be offset by the stress-filled conversations you overhear. Of course, this is law school, so there’s never a space without intellectual tension. While it might be the hotbed of the social scene, this is also the place for students so serious that they need an entirely different screen to streamline the legal research process.
Rating: 1 star (bad for concentration)
The Cabins
Everyone knows the study rooms have the best chairs. Sometimes you can watch the dogs play on the back lawn and remember that one day you may also feel joy again. The ones downstairs feature fun whiteboards where you can work problems out with your friends. But on the other hand, you may never manage to actually book these pieces of prime real estate. Who needs peer engagement anyways?
Rating: 5 stars (but the stress of booking will weigh on you)
The Rowell Room
Once the solarium for the Flavelle family, the Rowell Room is now the best spot to grab a coffee in the mornings or eat lunch with friends. If you’re here on Saturdays, you may even be lucky enough to watch (and hear!) Freedom Convoy protestors horribly misinterpret the Charter.
Rating: 1 star (one time a colony of ants climbed into Naomi’s backpack and rode home with her on her bike, and she’s never quite recovered)
The Dungeon
Buried in the depths of Falconer Hall, there are two rooms in the basement that appear to be completely empty (one is rumoured to have housed the law school bookstore, the other looks like they removed the fireplace that once acted as the heating system and is impeccably spooky). This is the #1 study space if you want (a) solitude (there will never be another person here) and (b) ghosts (some are known as the lovely UV editors). You will have to sit on the concrete floor, since there is no furniture here. Or, bring friends and adopt a BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair) system. No matter what you do, the benefits are immeasurably significant: the SNAILS will never find you here.
Rating: 10 stars (the law school obviously needs more haunting)
Emmanuel College
If the SNAILS can come here, we can go to them. Fair is fair. Any undergrad library will do, but Emmanuel College cannot be beat for proximity (it’s right across University Avenue, tucked in Victoria College) and features atmospheric stained glass windows, dark wooden furniture, and old desks. Though it is a bit tricky to find, it has the benefit of containing no people studying for the same exam as you.
By the same token, we’d also endorse the more modern E.J. Pratt. Stop at Caffiends in Old Vic for a coffee before facing the energy of stressed-out undergrads.
Bring your largest textbook. Remember, you are the superior intellectual specimen. They’ve never even heard of estoppel.
Rating: 2 stars (the SNAILs are onto something)
