PERSONAL VOICES OF LIBRARYGOERS

Scott Paulson, exhibits and events

coordinator, Geisel Library: There’s a small cement box on the roof of Geisel. It contains an electric clock — the Library clock. And there are actual, acoustic chimes hanging there, which automatically ring out on the hour. But there’s also a piano keyboard connected to the chimes. I play it live on Fridays at noon. Yes, I take requests! The most requested song? “Stairway to Heaven.” The second? “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath. Classic rock and old heavy metal is a surprising solicitation, but K-pop is gaining traction. My biggest challenge, thanks to a set of particular STEM students: finding a way to relay a rap song motif (through ceremonial bells?). Hard to do, but worth a try!

Barbara Carlton, UCSD alumna:

When I was a freshman at Revelle College in 1974-75, I commuted from East County. I used to spend hours at a time between classes in the Central Library, as it was called then, studying and reading. My favorite spot was in one or another of the large armchairs in the corners of the fourth floor, hanging out in space with no part of the building visible above or below me, looking out at the eucalyptus groves.

Frequently, fog off the ocean drifted through the trees, giving everything an air of mystery. The moisture frizzed up my hair, so that I even looked like someone other than myself. It was wonderful to be so immersed in a completely new environment, one that not only sparked my intellectual curiosity but my imagination as well.

Malik J. Minert, age 11, La Jolla:

My first time in the library, I was very young, and it was years before I could read. My mother and father say they habitually took me to see the Seuss Collection. I loved the clean display of the original concepts for beloved characters concealed in glass boxes. Old and frayed notebooks lay open-face on stands, the margins flooded with scribbled-down words and rough illustrations, perfectly arranged on the pages.

Subconsciously or consciously, this first experience is one of the many intertwined reasons that I now find myself mesmerized by books, and find myself reading almost infinitely throughout the day, escaping into these fantastical realms full of characters and filled with adventure. Alessandro Milio, senior, UCSD: I slid my hand across the eroded concrete walls, trying to feel every divot formed by the years. Some parts of the wall were rougher; a texture reminiscent of the sandstone cliffs above Blacks Beach. Others were cold in the evening air, and smooth. Its roughness disguised by the grey lacquer it had been coated with nearly 50 years ago.

The dwindling sunlight and clouds reflected off the polished windows; it was like they weren’t there at all. The laughs and sighs of students could be heard all around me as they returned home after a long day. A few went against the current, a late lecture still awaiting them. The ever pervasive essence of eucalyptus wafted past everything in sight.

Soon I’ll get to return to the musty air of the 6th floor, or the coffeetinted scent of the 2nd. I’ll be winded from an 8-story climb in the dankness of a darkened stairwell. I’ll be able to look out and see the place and people that I and many others call home. But for now, my phone’s wallpaper will do.