Ah, Butler, the place most of us have come to know as a second home—that is, if your home is a self-imposed dungeon of constant reading, typing, caffeinating, and procrastinating. Butler Library, like so much at Columbia, is both a dream and a nightmare. On one hand, it has over two million books and beautiful rooms to study in. On the other, it has grumpy guards, odd smells, and limited seating that makes finding an empty chair a process that’s a bit like natural selection—only the early studiers survive.
