hi what are your recommendations and pros and cons for your favorite places on/near campus to study? i need to stop living at robarts.

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hey there,

well, have you have come to the right place! i happen to pride myself on knowing better places to study than robarts. you’ll never catch me setting foot in there during midterm/exam season, you can literally feel the stress in the air emanating off students. no, i am a proud “i-know-a-spot” culprit and i am so glad you asked.

it’s great that you’re looking for alternatives to robarts, because imo, changing up your study spot regularly can do wonders for your quality of life. if i study in the same place for weeks and don’t rotate it out, the walls start to look like we’re in a simulation, my eyes stop focusing, and i go a little crazy!

so here are my top recommendations for places to study.

on campus

1. gerstein library

if robarts didn’t exist, this one would be the classic U of T study spot. it’s a super huge place, so next to robarts, this is the library where you’ll be least likely to be fighting for a spot. the little rooms on the ends of the halls are my favorite because they have huge windows where you can look at the pretty leaves and get some good natural light in.

however, it can be a little loud sometimes in the general study areas (some people don’t take hints and you can only give so many side-eyes at their rambunctious laughter before giving up). so if you’re like me and lose focus when people talk, go on downstairs to the quiet study area.

i love how spacious this area is, and it is a great quiet space to get work done. i also love the design of the place, lol. i feel so University Student in there.

pros:

• outlets at every single seat!
• lots of seats, lots of rooms.
• you can get away with eating in here, but i’m not sure if it’s allowed?? i’ve done it but don’t remember if there are any signs saying not to…

• nice aesthetics.
• building is in the middle of campus, so it’s easy to get to.
• super long hours — closes at 10 or 11 pm, and one of the few libraries that are open that late / at all on the weekends!!

cons:

• you have to go all the way to the basement to get to the bathroom. unless i’m blind and they actually have more than one bathroom?

2. hart house

this is my personal favorite, just based on vibes. i feel like i can focus the best at hart house out of all my study spaces, and i’m not sure why? maybe it’s the semi-dim lighting and gothic windows.

at hart house, there’s a great space to study on the main floor, but it’s also open to the public, so sometimes there are interesting people in there. (one time my friend and i were studying and an old man just sat down at our table and started playing chess.) the main floor is sort of like a cafe experience in that sense.

but if you wanted a student-only space, there’s a great little library on the second floor. this library is a designated quiet space — actually, i would say it’s my quietest study spot on campus!

i do also see people studying in the basement’s arbor room, but i’ve never tried that myself because that’s more of a social space.

it can sometimes be hard to get a good spot here on a weekday, but it’s usually quite empty on the weekends. my favorite thing to do is snatch a spot next to the windows, because the ivy growing on the outside of the windows just looks SO PRETTY. also, in the winter, you can sit on the little cement seat below the windows and it’s literally a heated seat. or seated heater. who knows.

pros:

• stunning vibes and aesthetics.
• you can eat on the main floor + basement (but not in the library)
• wide array of options for noise levels
• also in the middle of campus.
• open for long hours, until 11pm

cons:

• few accessible outlets on the main floor, and not all tables have outlets in the library
• busy on weekdays

3. caven library at knox college

next up, another place with stunning aesthetics. i am realizing that might be my main priority when choosing a study space…

this library is famous for its gorgeous stained glass windows and is in every “U of T libraries >>” edit. it is also a designated quiet space, so we love that. eating, however, is not allowed — and if you try to eat, people will hear. it’s so quiet in there that it’ll take you 30 seconds to peel your granola bar wrapper open without it making noise.

but, i love the secludedness of the little carrels in the back and outlets are pretty accessible. this place just screams dark academia and is the place to go if you need to romanticize studying to keep yourself going.

pros:

• super quiet
• great for focusing
• absolutely gorg
• not crowded
• in the middle of campus

cons:

• closes super early at 4:30pm and is not open on weekends 🙁
• no talking, no eating

4. e.j. pratt library

this place is a little out of the way unless you’re a vic student, but it’s so worth it. if you’re tired of U of T’s gothic tendencies, e.j. pratt looks quite modern and is just the color white. it has a very open feel since the second (and third?) floor is connected to the first through the main room.

the whole place is a quiet space except for the basement. i’m not a big fan of the second floor’s seating situations, so my personal favorite spots here are the private 2-seater carrels in the back of the main floor. there are outlets there, and it is soo good for focusing. however, these are pretty popular so it can be hard to find an available one.

pros:

• low visual stimulation
• quiet
• very private carrels
• open until 11:45pm on weekdays!
• open on weekends, but only until 5:45

cons:

• every single time i’ve been here, someone has a hacking cough that echoes through the building
• no talking/eating in the main room, but can in the basement
• on the vic side of campus

near campus

1. the toronto reference library

this place is another gorgeous spot for productivity. it’s sort of a given that there are a lot of seats and it’s super spacious in here, since it’s, like, the toronto public library. but what’s weird is that the wifi here is unreliable sometimes??

anyways, there are so many spots to choose from here, but my favorites are the upper floor seats next to the windows that overlook the city, and the little glass cubicles on the middle floors that you need to book out. these are so entertaining to me, i feel like a zoo animal in them — great for minimizing distractions, since you are in plain view of the public and must look like you’re working.

overall, the productive energy in this building is great, and when you look at hundreds of people getting stuff done, you are filled with the motivation to also get your work done.

pros:

• great views
• productivity boost
• can talk, but also pretty quiet!

cons:

• unstable wifi in certain spots
• no eating??? but again, if you’re subtle they won’t catch you.
• open on weekends, but quite busy on weekends and closes at 5pm then
• i once reported a bomb threat there 😀 not the one that made the news though

2. cafes!

there are so many awesome cafes near campus that you can study in. i’m not gonna go through and rate them all because that’s a bit much and this is already a long post, but i’ll list a few good ones here: wildhearts cafe, 10 dean, nabulu, moonbean, carbonic, and neo. my number one place used to be charidise on baldwin, but they have raised their prices and are now more of a restaurant than a cafe. i’m in mourning about it and will tell everyone who will listen. their popcorn chicken slaps 🙁

and, yeah! those are my study-spot recommendations on and near campus. my absolute favorite place to study on campus is a super-secret-spot that i will be gatekeeping, but other than that, know that you have just received gold. these spots will elevate your study experience and your life, trust me. pick up the phone and call that u-haul cause you are not living in robarts anymore.

over and out,

aska