Guide to Stockholm University Library

    Our library offers different types of studying places and provides a good studying environment.

    Zones

    The library is divided into different zones. The upper floor is a quiet zone with over a thousand places for silent reading, and places where you can sit and work with your own computer. The reading places consist mostly of tables and chairs. The ground floor is the zone where you can talk. Here you can find sofas and armchairs for group work.

    Computers

    You can use your own computer to connect to the wifi specially prepared for notebook computers; you can also use library computers, which contain the most commonly used applications, such as Microsoft Office. They are situated in the area known as the Experimental Field on the ground floor.

    Group-study Places

    If you want to discuss freely without disturbing others, you can book a study room or sit at a table on the ground floor. Some study rooms are for 2-3 people and others can hold up to 6-8 people. All rooms are marked on the library maps.

    There are 40 group-study rooms that must be booked via the website. To book, you need an active University account and a valid University card. You can use a room three hours per day, nine hours at most per week.

    Storage of study material

    The library has lockers for students to store course literature. When you have obtained at least 40 credits(学分), you may rent a locker and pay 400 SEK for a year's rental period.

    Rules to be followed

    Mobile phone conversations are not permitted anywhere in the library. Keep your phone on silent as if you were in a lecture and exit the library if you need to receive calls.

    Please note that food and fruit are forbidden in the library, but you are allowed to have drinks and sweets with you.

    We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down. Then, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop. She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, “Very dirty floors.” The nurse answered. She looked at Mum strangely and said, “But aren't you working late?”

    Mum just pushed harder, each swipe of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book. After a long time Mum came back. Her eyes were shining.

She quickly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, “Thank you.”

    Outside, Mum told me, “Grandma is fine. No fever.”

    “You saw her, Mum?”

    “Of course. I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It's a fine hospital. But such floors! A mop is not good. You need a brush.”

    It was a morning in January. The jet stream (急流)had dipped down, causing the Arctic cold to reach the mountains of my home. It was only 2 degrees outside, but the cold wind made it feel like it was 15 below zero. Still, I was kneeling in the snow alongside my house trying to open a tiny door, so I eoukl get in. 1 had forgotten to leave my water dripping the night before and now my water pipes were frozen and my faucets(水龙头)were dry.

    The wind cut into me like a knife while I struggled to get two electric heaters in place around the section of frozen pipes. The waterlines were buried except for a small piece that connected up to my house. I put a heater on each side of it, ran the extension cords(软线)into my house and plugged them in. Both heaters roared to life and started blowing hot air on the frozen water pipes. My fingers had already started to go numb, so I stayed inside to wait. I could only hope that this bit of warmth could get my water flowing again. Finally, after twenty minutes, the water started flowing through my faucets again. I went back outside into the biller cold and gathered my heaters up. I looked at the weak January sun shining on the frozen snow and smiled. Then I sent a joy filled with "Thank you" heavenward and returned inside to make myself a hot breakfast.

    Sometimes the coldness of this life can get to us as well. It can make our hearts feel icy and frozen. It can keep our kindness and love from flowing out to others. Sometimes, though, all we need is a bit of warnth to get us going again. It can be a simple smile, a kind word, a heart-felt hug, a morning sunrise, a bird's song or any gentle reminder of just how much God loves us. Let us all be grateful for those bits of warmth that gel us going again. And let us all try to be that bit of wannth for others every chance we get.

    Scientists, psychologists and English academics at Liverpool University have found that reading the works of the classical writers like Shakespeare and Wordsworth has a great effect on the mind, catches the reader's attention and triggers moments of self-examination.

    Using a special machine, they monitored the brain activity of 30 volunteers as they read works by William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot and others.

    In the first part of the research, the brain activity of 30 volunteers was monitored as they read passages from Shakespeare's plays, including King Lear, Othello, Coriolanus and Macbeth, and again as they read the text rewritten in a simpler form or modern language.

    While reading the common texts, normal levels of electrical activity were shown in their brains. When they read the works of Shakespeare, however, the levels of activity jumped because of his use of words which were unfamiliar to them. The result of the test showed that the more challenging passages cause a greater degree of electrical activity in the brain than the common ones.

    Scientists went on to study the brain activity as it responded to each word and recorded how it lit up as the readers came across unusual words, surprising phrases or difficult sentences in the classical works. As a result, this lightening up process of the mind lasted longer than that when volunteers read common texts, encouraging further reading.

    The research also found that reading poetry especially increases activity in the right hemisphere (半 球) of the brain, an area connected with" autobiographical memory", driving the readers to think carefully about their own experiences based on what they have read. The academics said this meant the classical works of literature are more useful than self-help books.

    Philip Davis, an English professor who has worked on the study in the university's magnetic resonance center, announced this week:" Classical literature acts like a rocket-booster to the brain, which provides extra power for the brain. You may never imagine how powerful it is. The research shows such kind of literature can create new thoughts and connections in the young and the old."

What's On?

Electric Underground

7:30 p. m-1:00 a. m. Free at the Cyclops Theatre

Do you know who's playing in your area? We're bringing you an evening of live rock and pop music from the best local hands. Are you interested in becoming a musician and getting a recording contract(合同)? If so, come early to the talk at 7:30 p. m. by Jules Skye, a successful record producer. He's going to talk about how you can find the right person to produce your music.

Gee Whizz

8:30 p. m-10:30 p. m. Comedy at Kaleidoscope

Come and see Gee Whizz perform. He's the funniest stand-up comedian on the comedy scene. This joyful show will please everyone, from the youngest to the oldest. Gee Whizz really knows how to make you laugh! Our bar is open from 7:00 p. m. for drinks and snacks.

Simon's Workshop

5:00 p. m. -7:30 p. m. Wednesdays at Victoria Stage

This is a good chance for anyone who wants to learn how to do comedy. The workshop looks at every kind of comedy, and practices many different ways of making people laugh. Simon is a comedian and actor who has 10 years' experience of teaching comedy. His workshops are exciting and fun. An evening with Simon will give you the confidence to be funny.

The public footpath laid barely 20 meters from where I stood, promising a walk along the river, passing fields and through woodland, well away from any road. Yet there was something in my way—the River Thames.

I checked my map to see how to reach the path, but there was no other footpath that would lead me to the island on which it sat. It was only accessible by boat—kid's dream. Similar to a talent show, some performances are educational but mostly, they just make you laugh. Talent is irrelevant, and audience engagement through call and response is essential.

Away from phones and peers back home, social norms fade and space for self-exploration forms. Shy kids come out of their shells, and cool kids let_their_guard_down. They get to open up this door to a part of themselves that they wouldn't have felt safe to reveal at school or at home.

It's been a decade since my last performance as a camp counselor, and I never thought of skits from a skill-building perspective. But I now realize this rich camp tradition left a great impression on me. Through camp skits, I developed my sense of humor, built confidence in front of a crowd, and learned how to accept others for their quirks（怪癖）.

Maybe we can make our schools or communities more like summer camps by bringing the silliness of skits into our families and classrooms to reconnect with ourselves and each other. The next time you're sitting around a campfire with friends and family, give it a try. Embrace the discomfort and invite your loved ones to join in on the improvising（即兴创作）. And remember: the more funny noises and childlike humor, the better.