Places to study in New Haven

Some of my most appreciative memories of Penn are of the study spaces. Van Pelt and the reading room of the Fine Arts Library were both terrific places to work: comfortable, well-lit, spatially elegant. After midnight I usually retreated to the study center in the Linguistics building (quite nice, though it got a bit cold in the winter) or to those wonderful tables with the reading lamps in Houston Hall. The garden-level lounge in the library was pretty good too, when it wasn't overrun-- the trick was to get there at 11:30, before the rest of the library closed and expelled all the procrastinating undergrads to the basement. I was especially fond of all the places open after midnight. I'm not as studious as one might think; I'm just a distractable night owl who prefers to flit from cozy nook to well-lit cranny, changing study spaces every 90 minutes or so, the night before the reading is due.

For whatever reason, it hasn't been as easy to find congenial study spaces here in New Haven. The university is smaller, and its library hours more limited. Of the three large library reading rooms, two are gloomy tributes to dark-wood paneling (the L&B room also has these ancient green leather chairs with springs that poke into your backside). The carrels are cold and rusty. Bass Library, though in many ways beautifully renovated, is an organizational disaster: the only actual tables are the same long cafeteria-style tables available upstairs in the reading rooms, which force you to work elbow-to-elbow with other students sitting in your assembly line, while all of the best locations, near the windows, are occupied by armchairs, coffee tables, and the constant stream of students walking to the exit.

I think Yale's plush undergraduate colleges must contain all the communal reading areas that were sprinkled among academic buildings at Penn. By comparison, I suppose, the study spaces available in the dorms at Penn were pretty dismal: you'd find yourself studying under operating-room fluorescent lights (English House library), sitting at heavy-duty elementary-school art-class tables (Hill House library) or on leftover-scrapwood couches overlain by thin sheets of scratchy canvas (all 3 high rise rooftop lounges, circa 2002). On the other hand, West Philly has few coffee shops (just Bucks County and Starbucks, I think), whereas New Haven has tons. I've begun compiling a list of library rooms and coffee shops that are among the better places to study here at Yale. Major requirements: tables, chairs, quietness, and light. Preferred qualifications: wide tables, comfortable chairs, sunlight or incandescent light, permission to bring (or buy) drinks, few people, nearby electrical outlets, and late hours. I'll keep this list up to date as I learn more about Yale's campus.

Coffee shops (ranked in order of study atmosphere):

Koffee on Orange: M-F 7a-8p Sat 8a-8p Sun 10a-4p
Book Trader: M-F 7:30a-9p; Sa-Sun 9a-9p
Publick Cup: M-F 7am-12am; Sat 8:30am-12am; Sun 9am-12am
Koffee: M-F 7a-10p, Sa 8a-10p, Su 9a-8p
Starbucks: M-Th 6a-11:30p F 6a-12a Sa 6:30a-12a Su 7a-10:30
Willoughby's: M-Sa 7a-7p, Su 8a-6p
Gourmet Haven (on Whitney) : daily 24/7
Gourmet Haven (on Broadway): daily 24/7
Claire's Corner Copia: Su-Th 8a-9p; F-Sa 8a-10p
Woodland Coffee and Tea (Ninth Square): M-F 7a-6p, Sa 9a-4p, Sun 10a-4p
Woodland Coffee and Tea (Chapel): M-F 7a-6p, Sa 9a-4p, Sun 10a-4p
Cafe George (?): mornings and lunchtime, as far as I can tell
Cafe Java (?): M-F 7:30a- 4p


Libraries other than Sterling:

Law library: Mon - Sun 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.

Architecture library: Mon - Thurs 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Fri 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sat 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sun 2:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

British Art Center Library: Mon Closed
Tues, Thurs-Sat 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Wed, 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sun 12:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Music library: Mon - Thurs 8:30 a.m. - 8:45 p.m.
Fri 8:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Sat 10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Sun 1:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m.

Social Science library: Mon - Thurs 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 p.m.
Fri 8:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Sat 1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Sun 1:00 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.

Divinity School library: Mon - Thurs 8:30 a.m. - 10:50 p.m.
Fri - Sat 8:30 a.m. - 4:50 p.m.
Sun 2:00 p.m. - 10:50 p.m.