SMSU's Quiet Study Lounge is Leaving

article and photo by Zoë Sandvigen

The fourth floor of Smith Memorial Student Union (SMSU) houses many student groups: the Disability Resource Center, the Cultural Resource Center, the Veterans Resource Center, the Queer Resource Center. And then, there’s the Quiet Study Lounge (QSL).

The QSL used to be the Learning Center until it moved to the library in 2012. Smith’s Advisory Board wanted to transform the central space into a student study lounge and the QSL was born. It has since offered students a work space in the hub of PSU’s campus.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Resource Center (WRC), has been less accessible and more isolated over in the basement of Montgomery.

The SAC recently voted to move WRC into SMSU to replace the QSL. The future of another quiet study lounge is unclear according to Jason Franklin, the Director of Campus Planning & Design for Finance and Administration. “We are currently working on a list of potential areas where we can replace the study lounge,” Franklin said. Student Government (ASPSU) is reviewing a list of other potential spaces. Afterwards, per Frankling, “the Smith Advisory Board may recommend a new location and then ask the Student Building Fee Committee for funds to create a new Quiet Study Lounge.”

The WRC will start the moving process once the funding is settled, Franklin said. “The student building fee committee only allocates money once a year so the decision would be next year sometime,” towards the end of winter term he thinks.

The location of the QSL is certainly convenient. PSU student Ash Helvey works at the Queer Resource Center down the hall and uses the lounge at least three times a week. “The lounge is closer than other places on campus and near buildings I have classes in,” he explained. For Helvy, losing the QSL to make way for the WRC is understandable: “It’s a good thing. I’ve heard problems regarding access since [the WRC is] in the basement.”

Other students say they can resort to other study spaces on campus. PSU student Amber Schmid said she’s used the QSL once before. “I don’t find it more beneficial than other places I study at,” Schmid said. “The library has quiet floors so moving the WRC out of the basement of Montgomery could be beneficial.”

Some students use the QSL more than others, but its appeal may just be the convenience of its central location on campus. It seems that other study spaces on campus will be adequate alternatives to the QSL when the WRC takes its place.