Like many of you, I sometimes view the library as a soul-sucking black hole. I frequently go in there to study (federal tax accounting usually) and wind up looking for something else to occupy my time. I have been mildly successful in my search for distractions and want to share my findings with you. Here are three interesting ways to entertain yourself in the library.

1) Listen to a record in the LRC – I’ll be honest. We’re not talking about the new Bon Iver record here, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not great music here. Folk, opera, classical. If you’re into that, we’ve got it. Drop the needle and chill out for a little bit.

2) Read a bound journal – There are shelves and shelves of them upstairs. Sure there are ones that could be boring like Journal of Chemical Education, but we also have Time and Oxford American. Oxford American is a magazine about the South and its best writers. And what better way to experience Beatlemania than reading the issue of Life from August 28, 1964?

3) Peruse the children’s books – We’ve got Dr. Seuss, Beverly Cleary, the Boxcar Children, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. If you haven’t read any of this stuff recently, do it. It’s hilarious. Be careful about laughing out loud, however. The basement crowd doesn’t take kindly to gigglers.