college students come to the library to . . .

remember family feud? no, students don't come to the library for that. i'm asking you! remember, family feud? contestants had to find the most popular answers to questions.

the host would say, "100 people surveyed, top 5 answers on the board. name a place you leave your keys. and there were buzzers and crazy answers and hilarity ensued.

number of people surveyed. top answer on the board. name the reason college students go to the library. according to brian mathews, librarian, college students come to the library to, wait for it, wait for it . . .

use the computers?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? SACREBLEU!!! say it ain't so. oops, sorry. please refrain from expressing that sentiment verbally, my good man.

as anyone who's anyone knows, you read the chronicle of higher education to find out what's happening in the world of academia. and in perusing said publication this morning, i found THIS!

which led to THIS!

ACK!! what is the world coming to when you can't depend on a library to be a . . . a . . .a . . . LIBRARY!!

and aye, there's the rub. for what is a library? i hear that question being asked AND answered and it includes more than just providing books (paper or electronic) or research assistance. did you know NCSU has a director of learning commons services? iiiiiit's true! (tip of the hat to paul harvey)

i went on a lackadaisical walkthrough of the upper floor of the academic library in which i spend some time and, occasionally avoid work. i found students engaged in the following:

eating - 1
sleeping - 2
chatting - 5
studying w/o laptop - 32
studying w/laptop - 38
using commons computers - 23

combining those students using computers - 61 vs. studying w/o computer - 32

i should have counted how many students w/o laptops had library books next to them. oh well. i never proclaimed to have mastered the scientific process.

what does all this mean? how the heck should i know? sorry, fellow traveler, i am only the conduit for information. i have no answers. only things for you to ponder and observe.

happy reading . . . no matter the format!