Midterms week is hectic, filled with books, papers, problem-sets, and caffeine. While balancing upcoming assignments and exams, we students need a place to do all of our work. Rather than locking yourself in your room, here are ten libraries on campus that might help you check one more thing off of your to-do list this week.
Architecture Library
Nestled between Frist Campus Center and McCosh Hall, the Architecture Library is a convenient stopover site to work. As one of the smaller campus libraries, it’s tucked into a second-floor corner of the glass Architecture Building. The rectangular floor plan consists of central stacks with soft lounge chairs and desks around the periphery overlooking Frist North Lawn. Each desk includes a personal light and a rolling office chair — tinted windows also filter in natural light. This library is quiet and attracts few students, making it a great space to concentrate.
Rating: 4/5
The Chancellor Green Library
The Chancellor Green Library is the only library on this list that isn’t a branch of the Princeton University Library, but its iconic stained glass windows, cushy leather chairs, and study carrels make it a well-known spot in East Pyne. This beautiful two-story rotunda looks like a scene from a storybook with its rich colors and warm shades of brown. The first floor features study nooks lined with books, while the upper floor has private wooden cubicles. Sound carries easily here, making it more appropriate for independent study than group work.
Rating: 4/5
East Asian Library
Located in Frist Campus Center, the East Asian Library feels like an ancient labyrinth hidden in a modern building. The main wing of the library is accessible through a third floor entrance, and going down the sloped hallway that leads to its stacks in Jones Hall transports you into another world. Inside, the library has a musty old book smell, wooden chairs, leather-bound tomes, and old-fashioned stepladders. During the day, the library is bathed in warm light from a few dusty windows. This library is a good place to lose yourself in time.
Rating: 3/5
Engineering Library
For a subterranean library, the Engineering Library has an incredible offering of open spaces and light. Accessible from Lewis Library, Fine Hall, and McDonnell Hall, this sprawling library includes a collaborative atrium with soaring windows, study tables lit by glowing artificial light, soft lounge chairs, and study pods encased in glass. The color palette of light blue, green, and yellow gives the space a calming atmosphere. The Engineering Library also has group board games available to borrow and a lesser-known B floor with stacks and a few places to sit and work.
Rating: 5/5
Firestone Library
At the northern edge of campus, Firestone Library towers over Princeton with its gothic stone architecture. It is by far the largest library, with six main floors to explore. The first floor features the Trustee Reading Room, Tiger Tea Room, open collaborative spaces, and reservable study rooms with whiteboard walls. Deeper in the belly of Firestone, you’ll find students hunched over study carrels in absolute silence. One of the most highly sought after rooms is in the Firestone tower, at the topmost floor with a view that stretches beyond campus. Unlike other libraries, Firestone stays open until 2 a.m. every weeknight. It’s a popular spot during midterms week, reading period, and finals, where it transforms into a lively study hub.
Rating: 5/5
Lewis Science Library
Next to Fine Hall, the eccentric, curved structure of the Lewis Science Library seems like a figment from a dream. The library houses multiple lecture halls, an underground connection to McDonnell, Fine Hall, and the Engineering Library, and a few floors of study spaces. It is known for its second floor “Treehouse,” a dazzling space with hanging lights, whiteboards, and tall glass windows. It can be challenging to navigate through this library due to its unusual floor plan — not all of its floors are connected — but it’s a fun, innovative space to work in.
Rating: 3/5
Marquand Library
Temporarily relocated from its place next to the Princeton University Art Museum, the Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology currently resides on the secluded C floor of Firestone Library. The large, warmly-lit square atrium features two long tables and a two-story ceiling. The space is open for studying, but drinks are not allowed and book bags must be sequestered in bins. As the most isolated of the ten libraries, Marquand is a decent space for quiet, solo studying or reading.
Rating: 1/5
Mendel Music Library
The Mendel Music Library is housed like a tiered cake hidden cased in glass in the Woolworth Center for Musical Studies. Its fairly small, stacked floor plan makes it a less versatile space, and the surrounding glass walls offer little privacy. However, it has no shortage of natural light, and its tan wood and white walls lend it a clean aesthetic. The first floor has two workspaces, while the second has a reading room with warm lighting and carrels. The third floor features stunning full skylights but is reserved for graduate students in the music department.
Rating: 2/5
Mudd Library
The Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library is located on the northeast side of campus across from the Computer Science building and Friend Center. Because of its nondescript brick architecture, it’s easy to overlook on the way to the Engineering Quad. While this library is a branch of the University Library, it does not have open study spaces for students and instead hosts classes and houses the University Archives.
Rating: 1/5
Stokes Library
The Stokes Library in Wallace Hall is a short walk from the SPIA fountain and is one of the few libraries with a selection of standing desks. Its modern appearance with bright fluorescent lights makes it an ideal choice for staying up until midnight. Similar to the third floor of Frist Campus Center, the Stokes Library has rows of long tables with horizontal lights — and an upgrade to rolling office chairs instead of wooden chairs. This library is a suitable option to study either alone or with friends not far from central campus.
Rating: 3/5
Learn more about each of the campus library locations here and view their open hours here.
Jessica Wang is a member of the Class of 2026 and a staff writer for the Prospect at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at jessica.wang[at]princeton.edu.
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