A new student lounge has opened in Walsh Library in room 108A. The space has been available to students previously, but was recently revamped. The lounge aims to provide students with a space to relax and take a break from academics.

“It’s something that the director of the library has been wanting to do for a little bit. There was a small amount of donor funding to get some more furniture. There’s been a push to update furniture and what-not, and we thought it would be fun to make it a lounge-like setting,” said Hannah Herrlich, emerging technologies librarian.

The space also offers curated Spotify playlists, where students can scan QR codes to access them. The library now has a Spotify account where students can choose from several curated playlists, such as “I Love the 80s,” “Electric Feel,” “Parisian Cafe” and “All That Jazz.”

“You have to get creative when you can’t sell coffee or have music playing,” said Herrlich. “[Students] can use it as almost a silent rave.”

The lounge is also part of a push in recent years to have more relaxed spaces in academic libraries.

“I think when you look at public libraries, they have a lot of these ‘maker spaces.’ A communal, relaxed, laissez-faire community gathering place, and that’s still not what’s going to happen here, but I think that the fact that the lounge exists is somewhat of a push outside of the more rigid academic library space,” said Herrlich. “It doesn’t have to be a place of strictly solo or group study. It can be somewhere in between.”

The lounge is still in the process of being updated, with more artwork expected to arrive soon. Herrlich does the social media promotion for the library and wrote a blog post detailing the updated furniture and playlists to inform students about the lounge.  

“I haven’t been to the lounge yet, but it looks great,” said Caitlin Wong, FCRH ’27. “Having another place to study is always good.”

Walsh Library has a variety of locations for students to work, as well as rooms that can be reserved for solo or group study. The basement has served as a lounge-like space, but Herlich wants the new space to offer students a cafe-like vibe. 

There is the potential for a similar space to open in Lincoln Center’s Quinn Library, but nothing is confirmed.

“[We want] for people to use it [the lounge] as much as they can and want during library hours,” said Herrlich.

Students can follow Walsh Library on Instagram @fordhamlibrary to stay updated.