Vol. 28 No.7, Summer 2001

Say goodbye to another taboo - now you can take your drink into the library

At UCLA's libraries, coffee mugs are becoming nearly as common as backpacks and laptop computers thanks to new rules that have pushed aside the age-old rule against drinks among the tall stacks and card catalogs. Librarians
decided to end the generations-old ban on beverages after reasoning that since they let students take books home - where they undoubtedly drink as they read - then they ought to trust them with a drink in the library, too. The move makes UCLA's 11 libraries among the first in the nation to break the longstanding taboo against allowing drinks among the books. The user-friendly drink rule is just one of many changes college libraries are making to become more useful to students.

Elaine Adams
UCLA