Beer and books

I was just talking to a friend of mine about closing time at the Cambridge University Library, and he asked me if closing time at the library is like closing time at a pub. As it turns out, there are a lot of similarities: a bell rings and last call reverberates through the walls of the establishment. One big difference is that if you miss last call at the library, you are locked in. I have been told that getting out of the CUL is a big embarrassing production, and so I have to be very careful when I am working late that I don’t miss last call. When responding to my friend’s email, it did occur to me that I have probably closed more libraries than pubs, which is a bit of a sad state of affairs.

Closing time isn’t the only similarity between pubs and libraries. Just as too much good beer too fast can mess with your guts, too much microfilm too fast can trigger the same reaction. Yes, it is true. I managed to get microfilm motion sickness the other day in the manuscript room, from flipping through the images too fast. How embarrassing!

Feeling a little too queasy to make it all the way to a college garden for lunch, I decided to get some much-needed fresh air in the library courtyard. It is a great place to sit, if you need to get some air and don’t have time to get all the way to a garden.