Last week, the library announced the unveiling of 12 new individual study rooms on its fourth floor, and while they may not seem necessary to some, they are incredibly useful to others.

I can’t study in my apartment. Yes, there’s a desk in my room, but that desk is useless because I get distracted too easily.

Before I know it, eight rounds of Call of Duty have gone by and I haven’t read a single page in my book or made a single flashcard.

The distractions that exist when I study in my apartment or in The Shield’s newsroom don’t exist in the library.

The individual study rooms benefit students like me who want to study on our own but can’t. The glass-encased cubicle essentially forces its occupants to stay on task and stay focused.

Yes, there are study rooms on other floors that have existed long before the individual rooms, but those are for groups. There are classes I want to study for that don’t require a group study session.

There are also rooms in the basement of the library. The lower level, however, is locked after 10 p.m. What about the students who want to study late at night?

There are tables on all of the floors that students could use to study, but I still find myself distracted at those.

The individual study rooms give those like me, who are the most focused and productive when feeling completely secluded and free of distractions, a place to make the most out of our study time.

The space on the fourth floor that is now occupied by the individual study rooms previously housed nearly-naked bookshelves. The rows of empty shelves were severely under utilized and took up space that could be used for something else.

Installing individual study rooms not only found a purpose for that area, it solved the unavoidable problem to come in a few short months – finding a place to study for finals.

One of the most complained about issues on campus last semester was that individuals were occupying the study rooms and groups couldn’t find a place to work.

Couldn’t those individuals have just studied at home since they weren’t meeting up with anyone?

Maybe.

Who knows what their reasons were for choosing to study by themselves in a room in the library?

There was obviously a “market” for individual study rooms last semester and there will inevitably be one again this semester.

The library neither wasted money nor space by building the study rooms.

If anything, it looked ahead, and it solved a problem.