The Hillsdale library should be beautiful. 

For a school that touts beauty as a real virtue to pursue, Hillsdale College has one of the ugliest libraries I have ever seen. My childhood public library and the library in my high school were both more inviting, thematically cohesive, and able to inspire a love of learning, which is our purpose while at Hillsdale.  

Mossey Library has an honorable, sweet history behind it. Named after Micheal Alex Mossey, it pays homage to the memory of a beloved child of alumni parents. With more than 300,000 items – physical and online – in its collection, the library provides a wealth of resources for student and faculty research and projects. It has continued to be updated and funded by a multitude of different donors since its original construction. It is also home to some of the most capable, kindest librarians and library staff, and they deserve a prettier place to work. 

Nevertheless, Mossey Library’s current layout and design hurt student study habits by making library trips a chore, and its outdated design does not match the campus’ overall aesthetic. The college should hire an interior decorator to fix the ambiance, color scheme, and layout of the library to increase the campus’s ability to pursue and appreciate academic excellence. 

If a student wants to study in the library, he or she is left with three floor options that students have named Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. Each floor features stand alone, wooden bookshelves and a colorless atmosphere that pervades the entire building. 

At the top, there is Heaven. Wind down with Plato and Aristotle by sitting in the back room with lime green walls, teal accents, and cherry red furniture. Frankly, it is shagadelic. The alternative is sitting among reference books, DVDs, and magazines displayed on bookshelves. On the bright side, there are usually a good amount of people up there to study alongside. On the not-as-bright side, there are approximately 215 places to sit; I know because I counted. The other two floors seat a collective 120. That may sound like a lot of seating opportunities, however, that is less than 25% of campus, and a majority of those seats are in sets of four. Most people aren’t comfortable sitting down at a table next to a stranger to study, which effectively means three seats are no longer available if one person claims a spot. 

Heaven houses the Heritage Room, which embodies exactly what the rest of the library ought to be; however, any breath too loud or cough too consistent, and I’m afraid of being taken out by the daggers people throw with their glances. 

The middle floor is affectionately called Purgatory. The controversy of the name embodies the controversy of the place itself. Wikipedia describes purgatory as “an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification,” which sounds about right.

Some people love that floor. Those people have never been to a good library. Purgatory features cinder block walls, windows that let in light around the room’s perimeter and leave the middle of the room subject to bright fluorescent light, and study rooms. These study rooms are not at all soundproof, so they are only effective for independent, silent study time, i.e. the point of the entire floor, i.e. a useless feature. The windows are a plus, but the color of Purgatory is beige, and Michigan winters do not help with that. 

The bottom floor is called Hell, and it is called Hell for a reason. It is sad like Purgatory, just smaller and more silent. Once a student makes his or her way down to Hell, the red has been stripped of the chairs and wooden, independent desk areas are all that remain. The only way out is a creaky, shakey elevator or a staircase that can only be described as dingy. While I have never committed a crime, the floor reminds me of the cells I saw on a field trip to the local jail I took many years ago. People often use Hell when they really need to crack down on an assignment because it is quiet. The punishment of being in a sterile and unfriendly environment is simply an unnecessary pile-on. 

If you can get a seat, getting work done in these areas still feels like a punishment for trying to learn. Also, not a single floor, in vibe or in appearances, is beautiful. Even the books themselves are stored, not displayed. The library should be warm, inviting, and an enjoyable experience like the other keystone buildings on campus. 

Christ Chapel emphasizes the school’s commitment to Christian worship. The amphitheater-reminiscent Markel Auditorium for performance proclaims an attention to the roots of theater and an appreciation of the arts. The presence of plenty of coffee shops and communal spaces for student conversation provide space for the free speech and open exchange of ideas on campus. 

The school cares about worship, performance and free speech, and it has spaces and architecture that physically manifest those ideals. If the school really values the liberal arts, learning for the sake of learning, it should provide a space where spending hours reading and studying for finals is a joy.

Hillsdale has proven to be capable of creating beautiful spaces, and I’m confident it could do it again in pursuit of a better library space. I love what I am learning here; I want a space where I am able to love the process of learning it.