The Class of 1902 Room, one of just two areas in Baker-Berry Library that is open 24 hours a day, is one of the most polarizing rooms on campus. Many hate it, but it also has an incredibly loyal fan base of those who frequent the room every day and at all hours.
The 1902 Room is now one of the quietest study spaces on campus, but apparently it wasn't always that way. On a call home, I offhandedly told my mom, a member of the Class of 1986, that I was writing a story on the (in)famous room. She immediately told me that it was the place she always went when she didn't really want to study and actually wanted to socialize with friends. It seems that by current definitions, the 1902 Room would have been considered "facetime-y" back in the day.
I didn't think we could possibly be talking about the same room, but I guess times have changed. Indeed, upon researching the room in Rauner Special Collections, I found old photos that certainly showed a 1902 Room that looked very inviting.
Despite the mecca of information that is Rauner, I was unable to find out when the 1902 Room actually became a 24-hour study space. However, it is reasonable to assume that when the room became a 24/7 study space, it also became the reclusive area it is known as today.
Even though the space is now a quiet place, many students admitted that history may in fact be repeating itself.
"I've grown to like [the 1902 Room] a lot less than I did in the past because it's more crowded now people talk," Tausif Noor '14, who has spent more nights than he can count in the room, said. "People don't understand that it's supposed to be the one quiet zone in the library."
Despite the growing popularity of the room, it's still the place to be if you want to minimize distractions. And while common complaints about the 1902 Room are that it smells bad, is cold and isn't inviting overall, those who frequent the room applaud the big tables and open space.
"It's not as closed off as the stacks or some of the cubicles," Max Gibson '16 said. "It has a nice aesthetic to it."
Yet many people who use the space use it simply out of necessity,
"I live in the River, and the Thayer School of Engineering library closes at 12 [a.m.]," Sarah Waltcher '16 said. She said she expects to start using the 1902 Room more as her work picks up.
Chris Fay '16 found the 1902 Room a welcoming haven after having one particularly bad experience in the Tower Room.
"It's really crowded, and people look at you if you cough," Fay, who is so far happy with his switch to the 1902 Room, said.
When asked why she thought people found the 1902 Room unappealing, Kristel Estrella '15 said she thinks one of the reasons people avoid it is because it's not a place one goes to socialize with friends exactly the opposite of how it was when my mom went here.
"I think people describe [the 1902 Room] as a place where people are super stressed out," Noor said. "You only go there as a last resort."
Noor said, however, that a lot of people usually go to the space more out of habit than anything else.
The 1902 Room is, for the most part, inhabited by a group of regulars, making it easy for a newcomer to the space to feel intimidated. Noor said that one of his friends keeps an ever-growing stack of books in one corner of the room, and he remembers one student who used to bring plates of food and utensils from FoCo to the 1902 Room while she worked.
One frequent occupant of the 1902 Room once nonchalantly answered the phone that used to hang on the wall and said, "1902, this is Josh." The phone apparently has not rung since.
Whether you love the 1902 Room or hate it, the fact of the matter is that if it's 4 a.m. and you need to finish a paper, it becomes the cool (and only) place to be.
"[The 1902 Room's] not some weird dimension or anything," Noor said. "It's just another room in the library that happens to be open 24 hours."
