The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library

Wow. I generally prefer stodgy, classical architecture, but this is by far the best and most productive reading room I’ve ever had the pleasure to study in. It is a perfect bubble of clean space, light and quiet – the three things needed for focus, in my experience. I am here during the summer, so it is probably emptier than during the school year, however. Regardless, I will miss it! (Take a tour of the book-​retrieving robot… DEMATIC is amazing.)

Mansueto had become my home during finals week. It is the remedy to seasonal affective disorder since it’s a glass dome.
Let’s start from the beginning though, Mansueto can only be entered from the Regenstein Library. The staff here is super chill and sweet. They are so helpful so don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I personally have never checked out a book from Mansueto; I have always used it as a study space. It is very modern so the wifi here is on point and you are guaranteed to have a plug/​light wherever you need one. The people who study here are usually very nice and they don’t get mad if you make a sound. That said though, this space is a quiet study area. There is a loud sound in it that’s like from a heater or something but it is not annoying or anything.
If you are on campus, Mansueto is definitely a place to check out especially when it is raining or when it had snowed because it looks absolutely gorgeous.

There are other reviews of the Mansueto reading room at the listing for the Joseph Regenstein Library here on Unilocal.But since the University of Chicago considers it a separate library, I’m adding the Mansueto as a new listing. Note however that the Mansueto has only one public entrance, which is by an enclosed corridor from the main lobby of the Regenstein Library.
Originally conceived as just an expansion of the Regenstein (the main library of the university), the Mansueto proved to be more than that. Its outer manifestation is the shallow glass dome that rises from the ground to the west of the Regenstein, softening that brutal concrete structure. What no pedestrian or patron sees is the actual «stacks» of this library (with a potential storage space of 3.5 million volumes), that extend down 5 stories below ground level. Only about a third of the Mansueto’s potential storage space is currently filled.
Filing and retrieval of volumes is done robotically, using 5 massive cranes controlled by a computer system. The 50-​ft. tall cranes operate at fierce speeds, bringing a metal bin containing the requested volume up to the reading room desk within 5 minutes. In that subterranean storage are stacks of 24,000 metal bins, whose books and journals are sorted according to size rather than any other classification (like all books at other libraries, each volume has an unique bar code label attached). There in the 60ºF bin racks, kept at 30% humidity, in addition to bound books and journals, are also odd-​sized items (archival boxes of papers and dissertations, digitized material on optical discs, and over-​sized «elephant» folios).
Gaining access to the Mansueto is very restricted; You must register there as a student of the university, a visiting scholar, or a guest of the library. I visited as part of a limited tour group. Link to their site for more information and photos.