An After-Hours Tour

Hello.

Welcome to The Red Zone, a blog homage (blomage) to Avery Fine Arts and Architecture Library. You see, Avery is a Red Zone - no food, no beverages, and, most recently added to the table sign on a bright green sticker, no cell phones. But really, Avery is a Red Zone outside of any CU Libraries regulations. It is, objectively, the sexiest place on campus. Yes, the sexiest. (Clearly this is my first blog and I am taking text-color liberties, with emoticons to come if appropriately sexy). First and foremost, the architecture of the library itself is beautiful, especially in comparison with the Barnard library and most classroom interiors, and, well, Butler. McKim, Mead, and White designed those enormous plate-glass windows to equal the heights of their tallest stacks - the balconies - and the dark wooden tables and chairs bring a warmth and charm to the third floor, which is usually chilly due to said windows. (Notice how I am not mentioning the second floor: this is because it is more simply "useful" than beautiful, in that it is warmer than the top floor and you don't get distracted by cell phone service.)

Secondly, the library is attached to the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), all encompassed in Avery Hall. Many, many of the students that attend GSAPP are from abroad. So, you have very attractive, very smart, very driven well-dressed European architects coming and going throughout the entire day (no one ever leaves - but we'll discuss this phenomenon later). Or at least, even if they are American, my first assumption, checking their IDs at the entrance desk, is that they are not and thus instantly more interesting. (Example: A man who looked like Harold from Harold and Maude dressed in a Burberry trench leaned into my face at the entrance desk to ask me where the "toilets" were this afternoon. Instantly sexy and more interesting than telling the occasional bro that accidentally wanders in to go downstairs and make a right. We will also delve into the bros-at-Avery phenomenon in due time.)

Thirdly: come winter, the second floor and basement feel like saunas. You are forced to strip off as much clothing as respectfully possible for as long as you're going to work it down there.

And lastly: the quiet. The blanket of silence makes everything feel like a taboo; somebody coughs and it sounds like a mating call.

These are the principle reasons as to why Avery is the sexiest place on campus. In the coming days and weeks, we will get into the whole cast of characters and seductions and clandestine affairs and everything else that happens behind open folios. As for my limited introduction, I am a General Assistant at the Library and have worked there for "some time" - I won't be more specific than that. But I encourage you, at this point, to check out the library so that you familiarize yourself with the collection; even if you are not an art history or architecture student, Avery provides unlimited resources for all kinds of research. Just remember that most of the books are non-circulating, so plan on staying a while.

Until the next work day,
GA