Macquarie University Library

So many promises — it’ll be huge; four stories! It’ll have more seating!
More powerpoints! Different levels for different things! Longer opening
hours!
And yet, the new and improved Macquarie University Library suffers from many of the same problems as the old one — problems that millions of dollars
apparently couldn’t fix. As was the case in the old library, THERE ARE
INSUFFICIENT SEATS! You built an entire new building, Macquarie — surely you could ensure that it met the needs of the students? And speaking of
insufficient, the power point situation is fairly dire. Make sure if you are
lucky enough to get one, keep it! All day, if you need to.
Some of the issues, however, have been alleviated — the darkness that
plagued the old library has been eliminated by the glass feature through the
middle of the building that allows natural light to flood the structure. The
Macquarie University administration seems very proud of the green
credentials of the library, which include this natural light situation and
the use of brown water in the toilets. Unfortunately, they seem to have gone
a little too far with it — the air conditioning is seemingly protesting
about the amount of emissions it lets off, and refuses to work quite
frequently
My other problem with this new building is the NOISE — its open plan
dictates that there is always noise, ranging from a constant mutter on the
so-​called «quiet» levels, to the open shouting that occurs on others. This
is probably the fault of the local HSC students who seem to think they own
the library — Go back to school!