University of Texas at Arlington Central Library

Eh. It’s a library How exciting can it get. Chairs, coffee, free internet. What else student needs:)

I’ve spent a great deal of time at this library. The Wifi is pretty fast, and they offer a bunch of computers (Macs, PC, and Windows) on the 1^st and 2^nd floors. There are some in the basement, 3^rd floor, and 5^th floor as well. The designated quiet floors are the 3^rd and 5^th floors. There are also study rooms that you can rent out for 1 – 3 hours at a time which are great for study groups. They offer a variety of different desks and tables on every floor that you can choose from. The 2^nd floor even has 2 treadmills that you can walk on while studying or using the computer. I think this is their way of attacking the obesity problem. lol but it’s not a bad idea when you’re tired of sitting for too long or you’re getting sleepy and need to get up.
There are charging stations for different phones and tablets in the basement, 1^st floor, and 2^nd floor, but it hasn’t worked very well for me so I just end up asking to borrow someone’s charger instead. They have copy machines on the first and second floor and neat scanners on the first, second, and third floors. There is a fax machine on one of the floors, as well. The black and white and color printing stations are located on the 1^st and 2^nd floors. I was told they were getting a 3D printer soon, too! There are various large rolling white boards with markers and erasers that you can just grab if not already in use. The first floor also has a scan tron vending machine with different types of scan trons, pencils, USB, etc for those who forgot to buy one at the book store and have an exam in 5 minutes, but it’s more expensive. They have a few food and drink vending machines in the basement, 1^st, 2^nd, and 4^th floors. The library doesn’t have a public microwave, but they do have a small coffee shop that brews Starbucks coffee and has pastries, parfaits, sushi, sandwiches, and other drinks. Because it is not an actual Starbucks, they do not take gift cards or reward cards.
This is a public library, so non students are welcome to come and use the resources, but they have to go to the desk to get access to the wifi and computers for a limited amount of time, while students have unlimited access. They have many books and stuff that probably go unchecked, but they have a long list of databases that are great for research that students can access at home using their net ID and password. The library is open during the school year 24 hours a day monday– thursday. On friday, it is open 12AM to 8 PM. Saturday is open from 9AM to 8PM. Sunday is open at 9AM and doesn’t close until 8PM on Friday. The library is only open to public use until 12AM though, so students must have their student ID to scan to get in after 12 AM. Security comes around after 12 AM to check for ID’s, as well.
It’s a good place to study for those who are trying to resist their beds telling them to take a nap instead of studying for their exam that is the next day. The school offers a free security escort service for those who are walking alone to their car or dorm late at night, too.

Fairly organized library with quiet floors on the 3^rd, 5^th, and 6^th floors. The other floors are considered «loud», so you can talk, listen to music, or participate in group presentations. The first and second floors have the most number of computers and printing stations.
There are charging stations on the first floor for smartphones, as well as a copier/​scanner. A Starbucks is also located in the front, but it isn’t an «official» Starbucks, so they will not take gift cards or gold cards of any kind. You can reserve 2 hour study rooms online through the library’s website and then pick up the key for the room at the front desk on the first floor. Most textbooks are available, but you can’t check them out. So if you’re looking to read a chapter but don’t want to buy an entire textbook, the library is a great location for resources.
A small media center is located in the basement, so if you would prefer to use a Mac over a PC, I would recommend using the computers down there. They also have color printing available in that center. Overall, a nice central library for avid studiers.
On a side note, the library is open 24 hours, but doors will lock at 12am. So if you are looking to visit the library at night, have a student ID available to swipe in order to open the doors.

What I love about this library is its Wifi. It’s really fast. I get around 30 Mbps down AND up average. Best of all, you don’t have to be a student here to use the computers and wifi. You can just go to their help desk to open a visitor account. The only difference between student and guest is that guest can only use a limited amount of hours while UTA students can use the network ²⁴⁄₇.
Speaking of computers, they have around 50 Windows 7 PCs and 16 iMacs. However, they are public computers, so don’t expect them to perform so well. For example, they are 3 iMacs died last month and one of them is still not fixed. Also, all the Apple Mouse (wired) scolling balls are malfunction, so you can’t scroll using the mouse on the Mac.
Also, you can bring your food and drink here. Isn’t that nice? They also sell Starbucks coffee here, although it’s not a real Starbucks store, which means you can’t use your Starbucks reward cards or whatever it’s called.
Anyway, overall it is a really nice university public library. I recommend it to anyone who lives near by. If your home network died or it just sucks, just come to this library and enjoy this lightening fast network. You can also bring your whatever mobile devices here and connect to this wifi, and it might give an idea on how fast LTE can be :)
(Note: for you non-​technology ppl, the network is «Wifi», not «LTE». Just that their speed is really similar to LTE cellular network speed.)