The word “street” conjures a variety of images in the average American’s mind. From sites of childhood play to images of the homeless, the street means different things to different people. Here at Colby, the lowest floor of Miller Library is a street in the sense that it gets you where you’re going easier and more directly than other routes. The basement floor of Colby College’s Miller library opens out on each side of the building to the ground level, and given its placement directly in the center of the campus, the Street (as it has become known) serves as the fastest way to get from A to B for many students, while spending the most time possible inside and protected from the Maine weather.
However, the Street finds another use in the form of a study space. The long room is lined with tables and chairs, couches and padded seats, paintings of the local landscapes, a couple windows and a giant stone statue of the Lion of Lucerne, impaled with a broken spear. The statue is by far the most memorable aspect of this otherwise drab room, with its cream colored walls, false ceiling and blue and gray carpets, no one would be surprised to find out that this was the basement level of a library. The art on the wall does not catch the eye. In fact when I spoke with a student who spends upwards of six hours a day in and around the Street, she had never noticed that there were paintings occupying the space between each of the six windows lining one side of the long room. But as she explained in her defense, “I don’t come here for the art.” Walking through the space at 8:40 on a Thursday night, every table is occupied by groups of students, some diligently working on problem sets, others conversing half in English and half in broken German, and some simply sitting together giggling at photos on Facebook. Many people appear to be working on group projects. As I walk through, I see five biology students introducing themselves and settling down to complete some genetics problems. Soon after arriving and speaking with a couple students, I have come to realize that the Street has somewhat of an elastic quality. As a main throughway for students at all times of the day and night, the Street has certain inherent social qualities. But as a part of the campus’ main library, it also maintains itself as a place for studies. The Street exists as a dual space, a location that some view as a work space and others view as social center, that somehow manages to serve as both at the same time.
In this way the Street in Miller Library is unique, as it takes on a variety of roles in student’s lives, providing a reliable work space for some and a source of guaranteed social interaction for others. It is incredible how a single space can be viewed in so many different ways, and how one’s use of a space defines how they think about it. Those who can accomplish a lot in the presence of others, like Avram, see the street as; “A place where people who want to work can get stuff done.” While those who prefer the quiet tapping of a computer lab, like Phil, think of the Street as a social space and “a place for Colby to hang their shit up.” I would say the interesting thing about the Street is that it’s both.
