A Trip to The Library

Right now I’m in the midst of participating in the 30 Hour Famine. During the 30 Hour Famine, people fast for 30 hours (though they drink plenty of juice to keep safe) to raise awareness, as well as money, for world hunger.  I have about 4 hours and 10 minutes until I can break the fast. This is my second year doing the 30 Hour Famine, and it’s seemed a lot easier this year than last! I think it must help this year to know I am capable of doing this.

Because of the 30 Hour Famine, I couldn’t go to lunch today—or I could’ve gone to lunch to chat and been tortured by the sight of others eating, not a great plan. I also had my class right before lunch cancelled. This gave me a free block of time between my first class, Intro to Asian religions, and my work in University Communications that I don’t normally have.

I decided to spend that time in the library. Honestly, although I love libraries and am seriously considering a future working in them, I don’t go to my school’s library all that often. I don’t know why I didn’t take advantage of my location last year—my dorm was right next to the library! I ended up mostly doing work in my dorm room, though, probably a bit afraid that I might miss something fantastically fun. I have to admit, I usually enjoy distractions from work. This year I’m on the other side of campus, so it’s not as convenient for me to hang out and do work there, especially since that would mean having to trek all the way across campus after a late-night work session.

But when I do get to spend time in the library, I really enjoy it. Two of my classes have final papers, and I decided to use today to get a start on my research.  For Aesthetics and Interpretation, I’m hoping to write about theories of comedy, in line with and inspired by Aristotle, as they apply to sitcoms.  I was able to get some good articles from the library databases and two books.  I then moved onto my paper for my religion class on Martin Luther. I decided to just start by checking out some books.

For me, there’s something very satisfying—and maybe even soothing—about the process of finding research materials. Or at least, there’s satisfaction in the culmination of it, in finding that article that is exactly what you need or is a great springboard, in finding a book that covers just what your research interests were.