I was recently travelling again. On the first day of the trip, I had to work, but the hostel I was staying at did not have any quiet space for that purpose. I tried to use the common room; however, the morning cheers of vacationing children did not provide an ideal working environment.

I had to evaluate my options. Many people working remotely go to cafés. They enjoy a cup of coffee and a piece of cake and hopefully something else later1, until it is time to call it a day. Visiting the city for the first time, I had no idea where to find good cafés for working. I didn’t want to spend more time searching for a suitable place, when I should have already been working. So, I decided to play it safe.

In the maps application on my phone, I entered:

library

Libraries have always held a soft spot in my heart. I am a book aficionado and love learning new stuff, so a place that contains such a variety of books and knowledge naturally appeals to me. Despite this, I hadn’t visited a library with the intention of spending some productive time there in nearly five years. It was during my last year of studies. Before the whole Covid-19 adventure.

I scanned the map on my phone for a library within walking distance and was satisfied that the main library of the city was only 1.5 kilometre down the street. I packed my laptop and headed towards there.

The first visit to a previously unknown library is a pleasant experience for me. It mostly comes down to the curiosity about the arrangement of the books, the availability of working spaces and, most importantly, the people that are already there. I did a brief tour around. I was looking for a suitable place to “camp”, while quickly observing the other library visitors. Some working alone, some students on a group project, some on the public computers.

I soon had my spot. I unpacked my stuff and started working. I like to have my headphones on, when working in public spaces. But I don’t want to block all outside sounds. I like knowing that the environment around me is lively. It gives me a sense of purpose.

I believe that the collective focus of people working or studying, even though they do not interact directly with one another, has an interesting effect which in turn makes me more focused on my work. It is what makes libraries unique. They are not just buildings or places of public service, but a vibrant social environment. It is also why I don’t plan to wait for five more years before my next visit.

You should not wait either. If you ever need a change of scenery when working, you know what to do. Open the maps application on your phone2 and enter the magic word:

library

See you there.

  1. Ordering once and staying there for multiple hours is at least rude in my opinion. ↩

  2. Old-school ways of searching are not frowned upon. ↩