From BU Today: Why Is Everybody Talking About “Third Places” Right Now?
In exploring the concept of third place, BU Today spoke with BU librarians how the BU Libraries foster our role as a third place for the BU community.
From the article:
Libraries are a lot of things for a lot of people. They’re home to study sessions and gossip sessions, chance encounters and habitual meetups, social events and quiet reflection. At Boston University’s Mugar Memorial Library, clubs meet, event spaces are rented, on-campus services offer pop-ups, students study individually and in groups, and people find quiet refuge, says Michelle Niebur, BU’s head of access services and library experience. It’s free, available to anyone at BU, and open from 19 to 24 hours a day, depending on the season.
In a lot of ways, Mugar fills in the cracks of campus life: it’s not home, it’s not work or class, it’s the very definition of a growing cultural movement—it’s a third place.
“We recently had a station set up where students could write something they loved about the library on a slip of paper and make a chain,” says Kristina Bush, library experience manager. “What students said that they love about the library really speaks to envisioning the library as a third place—many of the comments were about community, friendship, and ‘the vibes.’”