[Study-Space Series] Free Libraries Where Finding a Seat Is the Hard Part

Introduction

In the previous post I shared a six-star study center. Its equipment was so good that it made me want to return again and again: private air-conditioning and comfortable seats.

I wanted to plant myself there and study hard.

But in truth, my wallet would not let me keep going there, so this week I will share places that are completely free, although their seats are comparatively popular.

Li-brar-ies.

Libraries were an excellent choice for studying and working throughout my school years. Why include work?

Almost all of my work can be done without going into an office, so it is fine for me to wander around outside. Apart from teaching on weekends, I only need to find a cool place for preparation work, and I complete much of it in libraries.

You may say that I said in the previous post that I prefer noisy places to quiet ones—so why do I like libraries?

Although I focus better in noisy surroundings and libraries are extremely quiet, in summer I compromise: I read and work while listening to music, without disturbing anyone, to create enough background sound to concentrate.

The most troublesome thing about libraries is that they become incredibly crowded during school-exam and national-exam seasons, so you need to compete for seats. Also, keep valuables with you; this is a completely open place.

I have usually had no major problem leaving my laptop on the table for a quick restroom break, but I take my phone and wallet with me, so it has been manageable for me.

I recommend carrying small valuables with you. Larger things such as laptops may be all right; for something in between, such as an iPad, there are arguments on both sides… (a national-exam-law answer leaking out).

Each library has its own system and seat allocation. I have favorite seats in the libraries I visit often, so when you try a new library, sit in every kind of seat and find the one meant for you.

There are so many libraries in northern Taiwan that I have not explored them all. Below I will share the ones I have visited, worked in, or spent longer periods in.

Today, let us begin with libraries that are easier to reach.

Taipei Public Library, Xihu Branch

As a Neihu person who studied here from primary school to junior high, and even spent high-school holidays studying in this library, I had to introduce this one first!

Study-seat comfort: ★★★★

Cleanliness: ★★★★

Transport convenience: ★★★★★

Privacy: ★ / ★★★ (why different ratings? Let me explain slowly).

When I was in primary school and had no cram school after class, I came here to read for fun and absorb the essence of knowledge from heaven and earth (?).

This habit of reading for fun in a library ended when I entered junior high and a rental-book shop opened near my home. My life became occupied by romance novels and comics, and I no longer seriously entered a library to read casually.

Come on—how can knowledge be more tempting than the two-dimensional world? (That is not right.)

After junior high, school pressure became heavier, but my cram school did not provide a place to study when there was no class. The Xihu Library self-study room therefore became my regular base.

The main reason was that many friends studied at Xihu. I could occasionally chat or ask questions. Even in high school, when there was nowhere at Zhongshan to read on weekends and the same friends were still studying at Xihu, I spent almost all non-cram-school time there.

I also loved going because the person I liked went there often. Those are youthful memories!

Xihu Library later underwent a large renovation, so it now looks completely different. The photographs below can only show its current appearance.

They are also here to let old friends revisit earlier memories.

By the way, the closing music is no longer Fei Yu-ching’s “Good Night.”

In my junior- and senior-high years, seats were very hard to get during exam periods. Even though the library opened around 8:30 or 9:00, we put our bags in line near 7:30, ate breakfast, and waited for opening to claim a favorite seat.

If only I were one tenth as diligent for national examinations now…

Before the renovation, there were some seats on the first floor; now there are none. The computer-use area remains, and the restroom location has not changed.

I did once sneak into the children’s reading area to prepare teaching materials, though.

Xihu is a music-themed library, so music-related details appear in its décor. There is also a concert hall on the fourth floor. When I learned piano, several recitals were held there.

The second floor now has semi-open individual booths, each with an outlet. It is hard to see what is happening inside unless you look directly in, which is why I gave the privacy rating three stars.

These seats are extremely hard to get. I often see a man and a woman there, so I call them dating booths. If students want to invite a crush to study, or couples want to call a date “studying,” I recommend this little second-floor space (a very unsuitable physics teacher).

I once got a seat in the orange box and found it genuinely comfortable. If you study at Xihu, I strongly recommend these semi-open individual spaces on the second floor.

Study spaces do not care whether you are single or in a relationship; everyone can study, all right? (the correct physics-teacher statement).

If you cannot get a second-floor booth, choose another seat near the wall; I would go to the B1 self-study room to find one.

Most wall-side seats are full as well.

After many years away, I still remember seeing the square framework for the first time and wondering, “Why is such an enormous square needed?”

I suppose it is for the library’s overall theme, since the second-floor booths use the same square motif.

The seat-selection system works with the Taipei Public Library app, where you can obtain a digital reader’s card and select a seat with your ID number.

The digital card is used for this entry-and-exit system. If you leave too long without returning, the seat is cancelled. I believe this is how it is managed.

There was no such system before: if you arrived and found a seat, you simply sat down. Disputes happened when people left belongings all morning, and staff had to move them. This new system probably makes things better, but I am not sure.

There used to be large shared tables and individual desks. Now most seats are at long tables, either in the center or against walls, with transparent partitions between them because of the pandemic.

When selecting seats, people usually do not choose a place beside a stranger. In practice, you can often use one seat and put your bag on the neighboring one, so the space feels roomy.

There are a great many seats. Even on the once-prime Sunday afternoons I have rarely seen them completely full.

The tables are not very deep—roughly enough for one laptop. If you need both books and a laptop, placing them to the left and right works better.

The chairs are comfortable and the semi-open air feels good. The strange basement-library smell is gone, and the white interior looks clean.

For a completely free place to study, Xihu’s self-study room is truly good.

People will ask about outlets. At the time, seats 19, 20, 25, 43, 44, 112, 163, 170, 171, 184, and 185 were the easiest places to find nearby outlets. There were not many, so bring a power bank if you cannot guarantee an outlet seat.

The area numbered 194 contains air-conditioning equipment and is rather noisy, so I would not select it.

For restrooms, I usually use the first-floor one. When studying or working becomes tiring, walking the stairs is a small break. I have not visited the higher-floor restrooms; I would not deliberately go very high just to relax!

I currently go here on Sunday afternoons after my physics class, to work or read. I am always afraid of running into students, but so far I have not.

NTU College of Medicine Library

NTU College of Medicine Library also went through a major renovation, but I liked both its old and current appearance.

When I was writing my graduate law thesis, I completed nearly two thirds of it here.

Why not finish it at the National Chengchi University General Building Library?

Well, that library was extremely crowded, and NCCU itself was very far away. During thesis-writing I went to NCCU only when I needed materials; otherwise I stayed at the medical library.

After the medical library was renovated, I also came here often while preparing for the CASA statistics certificate.

If you are curious about what the CASA certificate is, you can read the explanation in this article: Preparing for the CASA Statistical Analysis Certification Exam.

Study-seat comfort: ★★★★

Cleanliness: ★★★★★

Transport convenience: ★★★★★

Privacy: ★★

The library is in the College of Medicine building behind the hospital. I did not know it existed until I took physiology and anatomy there in my second year, and discovered this wonderful library.

At the time, pandemic controls meant entry only through the main gate, not the side entrances near emergency or the gym. For someone who often got off at Shandao Temple, reaching the medical school became very inconvenient.

I do not know whether you can enter directly through the medical-school main gate, because on days when I would need to go around it, I was usually headed for National Central Library instead.

Identification was checked at the gate. Before the pandemic only the medical library checked IDs; I entered happily with an alumni card, and without it I genuinely could not get in.

There used to be concerts here, but during the pandemic only the piano itself remained standing alone.

To the left after entering are a vaccination station and a convenience store. If I forgot a cup, I bought bottled water there, brought it into the library, and refilled it so I would not die of thirst during a whole day of thesis work.

Getting from the hospital to the medical school involves many turns, but after years of doing it, it became familiar. If you are lost, ask someone in a white coat who does not look too busy; it is on the first floor and you will find it.

When I had classes at the medical school, I often bought lunch and ate in this high-ceilinged plaza. Later, on all-day thesis days, I brought meals here because food was generally not allowed inside the library, then went straight back to work.

There are very few seats here, so it is often full. If you do not mind going farther, the hospital underground street has many seats too.

One very convenient thing about studying at the medical library is the wide range of food choices.

If I did not want to go out, the hospital underground street had food. If it was too expensive, there was a dormitory buffet nearby, the lane known as noodle street, Qingdao East Road—called breakfast street—or Nanyang Street near Taipei Main Station if I felt like walking.

Why do I know this so well? I spent around seven years there!

If you really do not want to walk, the first floor of the medical library itself has a restaurant. It is an option if you do not mind a lighter wallet.

Speaking of restaurants inside libraries, NCCU once discussed having a café in its library. I thought, “Isn’t a restaurant in a library normal?”—probably because this medical library had shaped my expectations.

The first floor also has a copy shop, so printing is immediately available and very convenient.

That said, I printed my law thesis at NCCU after all.

Previously the library was open to outsiders, but for several months it had been open only to people within the university and alumni, who needed an alumni card.

When I asked a few days before this visit, staff said they had not decided when it would reopen to outsiders, so it looked as though it would take a while.

I often sleep in library sofa areas.

I have thoroughly slept at NTU Main Library, NCCU’s General Building, and the NTU College of Medicine Library. University life was tiring: classes by day and cram-school work at night.

Without a short rest before work, I genuinely did not know what I was doing when solving problems in the evening.

The medical library sofa area has the most types of sofas and is both the most comfortable and the most flexible place to sleep. When tired from study, work, or thesis writing, I lay down here or planted myself to scroll on my phone.

It really did not look like this before, but I can no longer find photos of its old appearance.

The first time I visited after renovation, I was amazed: “How did the medical library become like this?”

Because I now visit only the second floor for work or study, I will introduce the two areas where I spend the most time.

The second floor broadly has two types of seating. It may look as though there are too few seats, but is that really so?

No. Whenever it is open, I have been able to find a seat.

I usually carry a laptop, so I mostly use the serious study/work area with outlets. It is very free-form: chairs can be moved, and friends can pull up a chair to work at the same table.

Whiteboards are available inside, and you can ask the desk for pens, though I have not done so.

I have a condition where holding a whiteboard marker or chalk makes me want to start teaching physics.

Tables vary in size, and because there are often few people, you can choose a seat according to the day’s needs and mood.

After renovation, glass separates the meeting rooms and reading area, so you can hear discussion outside to some degree. It does not bother me; open spaces naturally have some background sound.

If you prefer a relaxed study environment with a little ambient noise, the medical library’s atmosphere is quite good.

Before renovation, the medical-library restroom felt like a hospital restroom—which makes sense, because it is in a hospital.

After renovation, the restroom became extremely beautiful and clean; even using it feels comfortable.

It is still an open space, so carry small valuables such as phones and wallets. I felt relatively safe leaving a laptop on the table, since others did so too, even going out to eat and returning about an hour later.

Overall, I highly recommend the NTU College of Medicine Library: even in exam season you do not have to fight fiercely for seats, the room is comfortable and spacious, food is plentiful nearby, and Blue and Red Line access is convenient.

National Central Library

If the medical library held most of the time I wrote my law thesis, National Central Library held almost all the rest.

A law thesis differs from the environmental-health thesis I wrote before. In addition to many journal articles, it requires master’s and doctoral theses, and not every thesis is public, so I often needed to find print copies.

Writing a thesis also requires many textbooks. Without a place with very rich holdings, every sentence of the thesis would get stuck.

That is why I developed the habit of hiding away at National Central Library, where I spent more than a year.

Study-seat comfort: ★★★

Cleanliness: ★★★★★

Transport convenience: ★★★★★

Privacy: ★

The closest MRT station is Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Because I use the Brown Line, I often got off at Shandao Temple at noon, ate Zhongyuan noodles on breakfast street, and walked to the library for exercise.

If you use the Red Line, going directly to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a little faster.

It rained so heavily that day that I could not stand at the main entrance to photograph the library itself.

People generally study in the B1 self-study room or at seats on the first floor and above.

The B1 self-study room felt too severe and frightening to me. I needed to run up and down to retrieve materials for my thesis, so I mostly read on the first floor; the following introduction focuses on that area.

To enter National Central Library, you need a reader’s card. At the time, you could apply and collect it on site and enter immediately.

I do not know how long on-site applications now take, whether they are available, or what procedures apply, because I got my card in 2018. If you have questions, call first.

The reader-card designs were cute. I chose the Wenchang Emperor design because I hoped I could successfully finish my thesis and graduate.

If you already have a card but forget it, that is fine: scan the QR code beside the entrance, fill in some information, and receive a temporary reader’s card to enter.

Yes, I really did forget mine that day, which is why I obtained a temporary card.

Previously, to enter National Central Library areas other than the self-study room, you had to lock your bag in a locker. Now you could bring it in, but still had to show its contents to the desk on entry.

I usually stayed near the first-floor tables beside the circulation desk. I like the sound of people walking as background noise, and staying close makes it easier to see my number when requested books or theses arrive.

This area is open all the way to the highest floor. When resting, you can look up and see the height of the building, with a transparent glass roof; it feels very nice.

On rainy days you can clearly hear rain in this area: wonderful natural white noise that improves work efficiency.

During the pandemic, long tables generally seated only two people, and sometimes one person could occupy a whole table. Transparent film in front also prevented the awkwardness of accidentally meeting the eyes of the person opposite.

As an aside, every seat in this National Central Library area had a three-prong outlet, usable for laptops and other devices without an adapter!

The chairs are traditional wooden study chairs. They can become a little uncomfortable after long sitting, so get up, walk, and pour water; people who like hard wooden chairs may love them.

The floors are all carpeted, with almost no water stains, giving a comfortable, home-like feeling.

I only support our Marine, so naturally my iPad wallpaper says “Ahoy.” That day I was preparing for the first round of the judicial examination, so I brought my first-round review materials.

After taking that first round, I felt that the serious studying I had done was almost a joke—but that is another story.

The tables are not very deep, but they are wide enough that filling an entire one is difficult. Overall, seats are spacious and comfortable.

As a library, it naturally has a photocopy area. National Central Library has many copiers; buy a copy card when you need one and it is very convenient.

The photocopy area is separated from all reading and seating areas, which appears to meet indoor-air-quality expectations and avoids toner affecting the air (my specialist side speaking).

During the one or two years I wrote my thesis, this was where I retrieved materials most often. There are seats for reading and working in this room, but it seemed to close around four or five; because I usually stayed until evening, I instead carried materials up and down to write.

I recommend National Central Library for people preparing for law-related national examinations. It has every kind of textbook, and you can immediately pull material from the shelves when needed.

There are reference books too. I once found a problem-solving book here, but it was rather old, so perhaps it is better not to count it.

Since I was there, I checked whether the thesis I wrote was still on the shelf.

Although I graduated some time ago, I still remember that thesis well. I could give a presentation or explain it in three minutes without a problem.

National Central Library often has occasional special exhibitions. When I went to study or work, I sometimes looked around; it is also pleasant just to visit.

It is a good study environment. The main disadvantage is that it is farther from areas with more food, but B1 has a dining area and convenience store, which are enough if you simply need to fill your stomach.

Because I usually arrived after lunch and studied until after 8 p.m., I can almost say that I never ate in that dining area.

National Central Library truly has excellent air quality and a certain book smell that feels wonderful.

With such rich holdings, you can find what you need immediately on different floors. Studying in this storehouse of knowledge makes people smarter (it does not).

Even now that I no longer need to write a thesis, National Central Library remains near the top of my list when I need a place to study.

Conclusion

Although I am a café person, I also like libraries and have stayed in many interesting ones.

I am enthusiastic enough that if I discover a library somewhere, I will always inspect whether it suits studying and working and whether I could work there later.

The three libraries in this article occupied a large part of my school, study, and work life. They are excellent free study spaces that I strongly recommend. I have visited many libraries, so later parts of the series will introduce more interesting stops one by one.

That is this week’s update. Thank you for reading, and see you in the next article!

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