Northeastern University Snell Library

Third floor of snell is my happy place. Possible child conceived in the basement. Fun to explore. Okay to cry in. ¹⁰⁄₁₀

Love snell. Pretty much my second home throughout college. Simple enough:
4^th floor: absolutely no sound is allowed
3^rd floor: you may talk a little
2^nd: you may talk a little more
1^st floor: you can scream if you like, but not recommended
Make sure you check out your books before going through the metal detectors. It’s really embarrassing if you forget.

I’m really not sure if Snell deserves three stars, but because it belongs to Northeastern, I feel a bit of bias.
This is our only library on campus. In my opinion, many concerns would be alleviated if the school were to build another one. Instead, they’ve been spending tuition on weird statues and turning Curry into a space center. But that’s a review for a different day.
When I was a freshman here (three years ago — eek), the first floor was for group work, the second floor was a more quiet study area that permitted talking, and the third and fourth floors were completely silent study floors. In that three-​year time period, the first two stories of Snell have been renovated. I appreciate the new look of the library, as it was severely outdated before the renovation, but I’m not sure it was for the best. With their new modern approach, the bottom two floors lost a LOT of seating that would be useful, as more and more people choose to attend this school every year.
I do like the new first level computer lab. There are many, many computers. I’m almost always able to find one, even at the busiest time of day (11:35 to 1:35). They have large iMacs and Windows computers. There are a lot of study rooms on the first floor that need to be reserved in advance. I do like the comfy blue chairs in the lobby, but there are too many of them. Some of that space should be taken up by tables.
The second floor is completely ridiculous. Everything is spread out and a weird shape. There’s no rhyme or reason to anything. I have used this floor only one time, and I had to fight for a seat.
The third floor is now «quiet study,» which means you can talk a bit, but not do group work. The fourth floor is «silent study,» which means you cannot talk at all. I prefer having the option to talk a bit on the third floor, so I usually go there. However, don’t sit next to the stairwell — people always stop and have loud conversations in it.
The actual selection of books has proven to be fine to sustain my workload, but I have heard many people complain that our collection is rather small. We do have a lot of online database resources that students don’t always know about, and it’s very easy to apply for the Boston Library Consortium card, which gives you access to MIT and BU’s libraries. There is also a librarian on staff during the day, and each major has a specialized librarian that you can make research appointments with. I wish the university did more to teach us about what we can do with the library.
The bathrooms are horrid. All of them. Each floor has two to four stalls to accommodate the thousands of people that wander through the library each day. It seems that they’re cleaned often, but it’s just a problem of not having enough of them. Even the newly renovated bathroom downstairs has such a strange shape; everyone is pushing against each other to get anywhere, and there are lines for the sinks! If anything else needs to be redone, this is it.
There is an Argo Tea on the first floor, which is where I usually get my coffee. They have Illy there, which is better than the Dunkin’ and Starbucks options on campus.
You do need your ID (student or state) to get into the library, and you need a student ID print anything.
Overall, could use a lot of work, but I love this library because it is mine.

Very cool place to study.

Best library on campus that I have ever experienced.
I used to spend around 15 hours per week at Snell Library when pursuing the M. S degree in Engineering School at NEU. It provides everything you need: free WiFi (extremely high speed), wireless printers, tons of iMacs, Windows machines and lots of 27 inches Displays as well as group study rooms. It perfect fits shoes of any demand of studies, it even works great for student entrepreneurs.

As far has having resources, Snell is great. However, they have been making some renovations that have not gone over well with the students at Northeastern. As a student, the main reason I go to the library is so that I can have my own quiet place to study. The renovations don’t on the second floor have been so inconvenient because there is far less seating. NU spent tons of money on getting fancy tables and modern art in the library that takes up space and leaves little room for groups to get together. There are numerous fancy computers and huge TVs that essentially go untouched. They are now renovating the first floor too and students are worried about there being even less seating.

Certainly it is not the best library in the Boston area. Their stacks are lacking, since the school is primarily dedicated to science and technology. That being said, the staff is relatively helpful and the databases are pretty good. Avoid lunch time if you are trying to use a computer or avoid crowds. The place is packed with students trying to print stuff for class or killing time. Also, if you are trying to find a quiet place go directly to the 4^th floor. Everywhere else can get noisy.

I am a student here and in Dublin and this library is way better than DCUs or another other I’ve been to in Europe… so much bigger and so many more books and computers…

I’ve never been a student here, but I’ve used the Snell library a couple of times. Compared to most university libraries, they’re reasonable with access. You show them your ID and you’re checked in during their open hours (until 11 pm most nights in the summer). Snell apparently takes its status as a U.S. Federal Government Depository seriously. Not only is access hassle-​free, but NU provides free guest wireless internet access.
It soothes my chemist’s soul that I have access to a pretty good science stacks.
It soothes my sweating body, that Snell’s thermostat is set to like 60 in the summer.