As you have learned, the beginning of fall quarter is a time of uncertainty and fear. We worry about our abilities, our plans for the future, our life.
Well worry not, fair MAPHer! The mentors are here to help with a….
ROBOT LIBRARY BLOG POST!
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“EEEEEEE!”
For the final portion of our “What did we do this summer?” series, we got a full tour of the Regenstein and Mansuetto Library (Henceforth referred to as The Reg and The Egg).
We began in the Reg, with the standard tour that everyone gets. It was informative and cool to see everything the Reg has to offer, but we had heard that robots lived in the base of the egg, and we were itching to find out more.
What I’m trying to say is that we had to wait before seeing the robot librarians and so do you.
The Reg!
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Regenstein was designed to comfort stressed out academics, obviously
The first floor has a 24-hour study space with computers, printers, couches, a coffee shop, and a tech bar. The tech bar has awe-inspiring nerd power to help you with any problems you’re having on your devices. They also rent out laptops and dongles if you need them.
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Brent used the tech bar for helping him figure out theinternet.com!
The first floor also has the ID office, where you probably went to take pictures for your ID. They also will take passport photos there, in case you are trying to escape the country.
Image may be NSFW.
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Each of the main floors has lockers you can rent (for long stays in the Library?) and exhibits which are usually set up by grad students (nerd-zibits).
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Scattered throughout the Reg are a bunch of rooms with cool stuff set aside. There’s a Graphic Novel room, a Map room full of maps….there’s a huge microfiche collection…..there are a ton of music scores and a pretty substantial vinyl collection. The fifth floor has a section full of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese materials.
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You may know microfiche as “old-school iPhones”
They are opening up a group work space on a basement floor that actually sounds amazing and way less soul-crushing than most of UChicago. Wall-sized white boards, windows that look onto a garden, natural light. Natural light! I’ve heard (but can’t confirm) that natural light is both good for you and enjoyable to bask in.
The Egg!
Image may be NSFW.
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The earliest known photograph of Thomas Jefferson, architect of The Reg and Egg
Mansuetto was built in the mid-1700’s by Thomas Jefferson. It features a classic American glass and steel egg frame. Jefferson was inspired by a servant who served him a hard-boiled egg on top of one of his favorite tomes, The Life and Times of S. Carter, Vol. 3. He reportedly cried, “Eureka!” leapt out of his bath, and ran through the streets of Philadelphia.
Seriously, though, The Egg has 691 glass panels, and the silver cylinders are part of the heating/air conditioning system. Anyone can go and study in the egg, and in winter it’s particularly enjoyable because every once in a while a sheet of snow and ice slides down the sides of the dome.
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Students were stuck in the egg for hours and forced to eat one another to survive
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Thank god vests survive the apocolypse
Fun fact: the egg is featured in Divergent, a movie about a post-apocalyptic world, aka the Trump presidency.
It’s got space for 3.5 million books, and currently houses 1.5 million. If you’re wondering where in this glass half-egg they are keeping a million and a half books, the egg is just the top of Mansuetto. Below is a five-story oval-shaped warehouse full of books that are retrieved by giant robots. No joke, we have proof:
Also not joking: The robots all have famous robot names. R2D2, Hal, T-1000, etc.
Buncha nerds.
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Oh, just a book older than America, nbd
There’s tons of other stuff in the Library this post isn’t covering, and I highly recommend exploring there. They have a section where you can have them pull out super old, original-copy books and study them for projects. There is a set of metal printers’ symbols on display that British presses used to identify their books.
The library is the gift that keeps on giving. We got an exclusive tour, they don’t let the public down into the Egg. So you’ll have to take our word that there are robot librarians in there.
But everything else is accessible, and you should spend some time there even if you plan on using amazon to get any books you need. If nothing else, spend a day or two studying in the egg in winter, or study a hundred-year old text for your thesis. The Reg offers tours regularly, just call them or talk to your lovely mentors if you want to figure out a time for a tour.
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Squid Monster may be a harsh ruler, but damn it if he isn’t good with the kids
Oh, and all that first week of the quarter angst? Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Everyone doesn’t know what they’re doing. This is just the scary part of the roller coaster, there’s nothing that will stop you from getting to the end. The safety bar is in place, here in the comfort of the MAPH office. If you are having any trouble at all, come see us.
Please. (we are lonely)
All our love,
Brent, T, and Annie
