Our glorious library, in all her majesty.

The first weekend at Columbia is ending, and many doe-eyed freshies are getting accustomed to Butler (or is Butler getting accustomed to the freshies?). Either way, some are bound to spend a number of late, late nights in Butler, taking advantage of the calm and emptiness to pour their hearts out into their work. For those out there who wish to join the ranks of the ~true~ Butlerites, Bwog is here with some advice (tips? tricks? Butler secrets passed down through shadowy ranks of insomniacs?) on how to make the best of your Butler sleepovers.

1. Floors 5 and 6 close between 10:45 and 11:00 PM, but that doesn’t mean they’re off limits. If you want to use a bathroom that is guaranteed to be empty in the wee hours of the morning, any of the bathrooms on these floors are up for grabs. Just be careful with which side of Butler you’re on. The northern connecting rooms on Butler 6 are locked when the floor closes, and the women’s bathroom is only accessible from the western side of Butler, and the men’s from the eastern side. But there won’t be any people in any after midnight, so don’t fret about using the “wrong” bathroom. What happens in Butler stays in Butler.
2. Butler 4 has a number of reservable study rooms which are almost fully booked during the day. However, if you snag a reservation from about 10 PM or 12 AM onwards, you can usually just camp out in the rooms all night, past the end of your two hour reserved block. While technically those rooms close between 6:00 and 7:00 AM for cleaning, Butler staff will only take out the trash and leave you to your work. Thanks Butler staff, you are literally the best.
3. Butler 202 will always have at least one person camping out all night, but there are many other 24 hour spaces which are almost always empty past 1:00 AM. Butler 409 is one such space. And it has a pretty view of campus, meaning the sunrise will brighten your day after a hard day’s night.
4. Butler air conditioning gets better the higher the floor you’re on. If you’re a person who needs immaculate control over your room temperature, the aforementioned reservable study rooms have controllable units which function surprisingly well. Why stay in muggy 202 or 209 when you can just snag a study room and craft the perfect atmosphere for your late night activities?
5. Avoid Butler 403. While it’s marginally better as a study space than Butler 209, it always carries the faint smell of body odor and sweat. Seriously. Even when nobody’s there, it still smells funky. Why subject yourself to any more stress than you already have?
6. The guard on duty at Butler’s front desk will come to recognize you if you’re leaving and reentering the library every couple of hours for smoke breaks. So be friendly. Butler’s public safety officers are great people, so a simple good night/good morning means quite a bit.
7. If you go to Butler Cafe right before its closing time, you can sometimes snag deals/free food that they would otherwise throw away. If you’re not a fan of going to MoWill in the cold, this can be a lifesaver. Also, who can say no to free sushi?
8. Much of the hatred for Butler comes from people who don’t take the effort to find the right study space. Some people like the stacks, some like the Mezzanine tree house on Butler 3, some like Butler 6’s papyrology room. If you’re here at night when the library is empty, try studying in a space where you haven’t been before. Who knows, you may find the perfect spot for the remainder of your Columbia career. Or you may legitimize your hatred for Butler. Either way, you won’t know until you try.

Hopefully, these pointers will help you for your next Butler escapade. For all the true Butlerites out there, keep on keeping on. We’re in this together. If you have any other suggestions, leave them in the comments below.