Studying can be a lonely business, and sometimes it can help to shake things up by getting outside your traditional study spaces. Of course, Northeast Ohio has tons of wonderful library spaces – every single branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library has comfortable tables in the open areas as well as private study carrels, and most of them have quiet study rooms that can be reserved. But sometimes it’s fun to go a little further afield.
Here are a handful of places near University Circle for those looking to breathe some new life into their study spaces:
The Market Hall at the Van Aken District
An excellent place to study for those students who don’t mind a slightly noisier environment, the Market Hall has great coffee, great food options, and is right across the street from Mitchell’s Ice Cream!
Kelvin Smith Library at Case Western Reserve University
For those who might find it inspiring to study around some hard-working college students, CWRU’s main student library is the perfect spot.
The Ames Family Atrium at Cleveland Museum of Art
Perhaps the most surprising recommendation on this list, the Atrium at CMA is a wonderful place to enjoy natural sunlight and an open-air feel even during cold winter months. The Atrium’s two dozen tables can get crowded on a weekend, but after school on weekdays (the museum is open till 5 P.M. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and until 9 P.M. on Wednesdays and Fridays), it’s a great place to study either independently or with a couple of friends. And the greatest benefit is that when you’d like a study break, you can pop into a gallery—one of America’s great art museums—free every day!
The Ingalls Library at the Cleveland Museum of Art
If you love the idea of refreshing mind, body, and spirit by strolling through a gallery during a study break but need quiet when you study, wander up to the Ingalls Library at CMA. Anyone’s allowed in—you don’t have to be working on a PhD in art history to use this little gem of a library. There’s a nice, quiet study area, and you’re allowed to bring coffee! (Just act like you belong there and explain to the guard that of course you’re headed to the library and not to a gallery with your coffee.)
The Allen Memorial Medical Library at Case Western Reserve University
On the corner of Adelbert and Euclid, right across the street from Severance Hall, this small library offers a fantastic quiet study area in a room surrounded by old books that reminds me (on a smaller scale) of the Andrew Dickson White Library at Cornell University. There’s something about this place that just makes you want to work hard.
Finally, of course, is any coffee shop that appeals to you. I do a lot of my tutoring in the café at the Barnes & Noble at Eaton and in the atrium outside Nervous Dog at La Place in Beachwood. I’d love to hear from students what cafés have worked best for you! Share your favorite coffee shop with Tim!
TWK founder Tim Tibbitts, an oncology nurse at Cleveland Clinic, loves helping students to shine on ACT and SAT. Tim can be reached at tim@thewholekid.com or 216.235.3115.