Shields Library

Great place to study. Quiet environment, tons of tables to study at all the time (I never have trouble finding a seat near a plug!), and you can eat!
It’s very close to both Silo and MU so you don’t have to walk far from/​to either terminal.
Also very clean all the time. They have computer labs as well and you can print stuff here.
Not much else to say! It’s a great library!

Best place to study midterms! Avoid the big reading room, sometimes it could become a bit chaos!

y’know.
my 5 star on and off boyfriend, on during midterms and finals.
peter j shields

This is my go-​to study place when I’m on campus. Little to no Internet connection in the basement, but that just means more study time lol.

Ehhh it’s just a library. Pretty outdated. But I like the art work inside. During Christmas they make their tree out of books! The supervisor behind the reserve desk is not friendly btw.

I just love having a large library to study in between classes and such, smack in the middle-​ish of campus. There are many areas around the library that are great for studying and other areas for group works and such. Being the 3^rd largest library in the UC system, it would have over 3.1 million books and 4 floor for students and people alike to traverse around. Bonus for the many hiding quiet spots for studying. My go-​to camp out spot would be around the 3^rd or 4^th floor as people don’t bother going up to high for a quick study. The study cages do look a bit daunting… something that I wouldn’t use, but can be useful for those who can’t concentrate without being forced to.
At the front of the library, I always have a small giggle to myself at the egghead faceplanted into a book. Irony, I use facebook in the library sometimes… heehee get it?
Final Thoughts: This is a huge library… I think I can procrastinate by playing hide-​n-​seek here :]

Basement doesn’t have much room or outlets, but it’s pretty quiet. A good place to come if you have only an hour or two between classes but aren’t planning on really hunkering down.
First floor is pretty noisy and doesn’t have a lot of outlets. I usually don’t study here unless I’m meeting with a group.
Second floor has the main reading room. It can get noisy but it’s pretty solid, usually, since it’s got lots if seats and plenty of outlets.
Third floor has some great tables with power strips attached to them, but you’ll need to be early or lucky to grab one.
Fourth floor is usually silent and has lots of tables and cubicles if you aren’t using power. However, if you need an outlet, your best bet is always the main reading room.
I’m actually writing this review right now to procrastinate studying.

Definitely my go-​to place to study!
I prefer the actual library study areas rather than the side 24 hour study room. but the 24 hour study room surprisingly gets pretty busy after midnight most nights! Best to just start studying there before the main library closes if you know you’ll be there still after midnight! Honestly, it kinda does feel like a dungeon in the 24 hour study room.
I haven’t really been to the library during Finals week to know how busy it gets, but it seems to get decently busy around midterm time! Will update review later.
Also, if you’re thinking about taking a book out of Reserves, remember to get the CALL ID # from the computers near the Reserves desk.

I love the library, even though there are barely any seats during the midterm and final season :[
However, I really like how I can usually get a seat in the computer lab without any wait, compare to the MU or other computer labs.
When the weather is nice, it’s awesome to read books or do work in the little outdoor area in the middle of the library that you can access through first floor.
Also the RESERVES! You can save so much money by getting your books from the reserves :), but sometimes it’s hard to get them as there are sometimes only few copies.

My to-​go place whenever I don’t own a book I need to read for one of my classes! I love the reserves place because I can always count on it when I want to save money and not purchase any of my books for my classes. Other than that, this place is a great place to do work and to study but it gets pretty crowded during midterms week and finals week. First come first serve when you need an outlet! I suggest bringing a power strip when you have a huge study group or when you need more than one plug. The computer lab is a plus too especially since it opens at 7:30am and you need to print something for an 8am class. I’ve never actually tried checking out their books so I don’t know how good they are about that but the reserves place is definitely the place for me!

I love this library!

I didn’t frequent the library much, but when I did, librarians were extremely nice and helpful and so were the student employees. They have every book you could possibly need and archives that are crazy cool (one holds Mayan codices).
The 1^st floor is generally not quiet, with students working on group projects, and being a high traffic area, it’s difficult for some students to study on this level. Some of the quietest areas to study and take a nap are on the upper floors, along the walls.
I’m taking 1 star off for a lack in cleanliness and electrical plugs. But overall, a great place to explore and find all your researching needs.

I haven’t been to many libraries other than this infamous one in Davis, but I really will miss it when I graduate this quarter. Looking back, always hit the 2^nd or 3^rd floor to get some room for group studies and such. If you are looking for a super quiet place to study, go for the individual cubbies at the random spots. Nevertheless, the computer room gets super packed here so I would advise to try another computer lab! When all else fails, go to the 24 hour room which may seem like a prison, but it gets the job done.
If you feel super hipster, be sure to study on one of the huge window panes/​cubby. it makes you really appreciate the weather and environment!

I am not the type that goes to the library to study, however I feel like Shields library is a holy sanctuary for studying. Every now and then I have to go borrow books from the reserves (2 hours loans) and the library enable me to stay in complete focus and finish my reading tasks.
The library is very clean and organized, the only bad part about this library is that it can get crowded and there could be no open tables at all.

I should probably come in here more often. But omg, what is with this place and their lack of outlets? I swear I spent 10 minutes looking for one once. My housemate and I have learned to just bring an extension cord with a power strip if we know that we’re going to be studying in a group.
Library faves;
— 4^th floor! There’s no one there.
— The group study room in the basement– perfect for talking out loud and working on group projects or just hw together.
— Reserves desk– saved my butt so many times. It’s what I get for not buying textbooks and finding out that there’s hw due tomorrow.
— 24 hr study room. Oh, finals.
It’s crowded during finals but not too bad. There hasn’t been a point where I haven’t been able to get a desk or anything.

Oh Shields. How I love you so.
So much so that I’d rather come here to study than anywhere else. Especially at 9 in the morning after seeing Calvert. I usually have a two or three hour break before my next class so I try to get some alone time here as much as I can.
My favorite spot is on the fourth floor. I love it! At 9 in the am, there are virtually zero people up there. I study in the back side of the library and I get really focused. The tables are humongous and have lots of space for all my stuff that I put on there.
To get to the fourth floor, I always take the stairs. It’s a workout! Elevators = laziness for me.
I also love the window seats, not to study but for napping. haha
The only problem perhaps is the lack of electrical outlets for the laptops. But I don’t really mind it anymore since I am here so much early in the mornings, and I take a plug.
If I am ever on campus during the day, and not in class or with a friend, it’ll be right here.

Shields Library is the place to get your study on. The location is convenient and the staff are helpful. I probably spent the majority of my college career in the main reading room on the second floor. Its quiet, has huge tables to scatter my papers everywhere and usually not too many people. They’re getting electrical plugs for the tables next year so everyone can plug in their laptops!

Great library although I feel like most people don’t really utilize everything that this library has to offer. Most UCD students come here for the AC during the hot summers, use the computer, take a nap and study. I’ve never really see anybody crack up a book from the shelves or scan through them. Maybe it’s just me?
They have a great section of cook books which I discovered recently. Like an unbelievably, amazing selection of cook books that fill up rows and rows of shelves the size of two large rooms.
I did mention free AC right?

Ahh shields library. what can i say about you? As i’m writing this review right now i’m sitting in the reading room absorbing your fantastic AC :) I love how you have all the books i need on reserve so i do not have to bring my own copy from home and i love how you charge my computer for free :)
Although i must admit, some parts of you is a bit scary (especially the little caged in area with only a desk and a chair) the rest of you is always filled with tons of people just trying to get their nerd on. and for that i approve of you :)

I’m enjoying a day on the campus of my alma mater. It’s the first week of Spring Quarter — a gorgeous day of fluffy white clouds floating across a bright blue sky. The new leaves on the oak trees haven’t yet turned dark green and tannic against the heat and herbivores. The students look relatively hopeful and unstressed. The two guys studying near me are going to knock off soon and go shoot some hoops. Youth is wasted on the young? Who wouldn’t want to be young again? Fuck off, George Bernard Shaw.
I’m spending a few hours doing some research in Shields Library, and this place is bringing it with the sweet memories. Man, to have steady and ready access to a fine research library. Sure, lots of stuff is available online these days, but the internet is no substitute for bookstacks in a brick-​and-​mortar building.
Some things change: (1) All the students have laptops, and the place is wired to accommodate. (2) The bookstacks are dark until you enter a row, tripping a motion detector that triggers the lights for that one row. (3) There have been major additions to Shields since I finished grad school, and I couldn’t find the deep dark stacks that looked like a cross between a medieval monastery and an especially confined and claustrophobic portion of the spaceship set from the movie «Alien.»
Some things remain the same: (1) The library is disproportionately full of Asian kids — take that either as a compliment or as purely empirical, Asian kids. (2) Every third or fourth student sitting in the study carrels is head-​down and apparently asleep. (3) The graffiti in my carrel advises that the ladies from Tri-​Delt are still the easiest.