Learning, lattes cohabit at Duke library

DURHAM -- Feel free to raise your voice a little in Duke's Bostock Library. You won't get shushed.

And that steaming cup o' java isn't a problem, either. Just don't spill it on the Ralph Waldo Emerson anthology.

Bostock, a bright, airy two-year-old addition to Duke's Perkins Library complex, is now where the cool kids hang out. It is, in a way, what you would get by crossing a traditional university library with a modern student union. Macbeth, it appears, is more easily digested when chased with a latte.

But more than just a social crossroads, this library was specifically designed to reflect a shift in academic philosophy that now places a greater emphasis on group learning.

Like a coffeehouse or corner pub, Bostock encourages students to get comfortable and stay for hours. The chairs are big and cushy, not rigid and institutional.

There's wireless connectivity for your laptop and a sea of public computer terminals all over the place for students to check their Facebook pages -- er, math class Web site.

"It's merging the social space with the intellectual space," said Deborah Jakubs, Duke's university librarian and vice provost for library affairs. "Our food and drink policy is pretty much out the window."

Though classes began just recently, Bostock on a recent afternoon was abuzz with activity. It isn't overly loud, but it has an energy that seems unusual for a library. It's bright, for one thing, with sunlight streaming through its many windows. Students clogged computer terminals. One napped in an oversize chair. Others flopped -- feet up, slouching in positions only a chiropractor could appreciate -- all over the furniture. Candy wrappers and soda bottles were everywhere; apparently, Dr Pepper and Gatorade are particular favorites.

Designed with the student-as-customer in mind, Bostock is already striking a good chord with freshman Ian Ballard, who stopped in recently while eating an apple.

"I noticed that I could take coffee in," Ballard said. "That's good, because you need coffee to be in there for four or five hours."

Ah, yes, coffee. It is now a centerpiece of the Duke library experience. What was once a small coffee shop tucked into an old section of the library is now "The Perk at von der Heyden Pavilion," a glass-enclosed caffeine cathedral prominently located at the entry to Perkins Library, not far from the Bostock entrance. It is warm and inviting and does a terrific business: Sales are up 500 percent since it moved, library officials said. Atop the roof, it has one special touch: a small, stainless steel blue devil weathervane clutching a copy of Dante's "Divine Comedy."