UCLA Charles E Young Research Library

School is school.
You hear this sometimes. At its core, it’s a true statement. You learn, you stress out, you graduate, you move on. It’s school.
School, though, is so much more than that. Every single one I’ve been to from elementary to now – college – has been defined by so much more than just simply «school». In fact, so much is about the places you take for granted every day.
When I look back at these locations, all I can really do is smile. You know how in a movie or TV script, they always set up a new shot with «SCENE»?
That’s because the places where your life occurs matters. So many memories are made AT THOSE PLACES, and somewhere such as school where you are all the time, seemingly, makes this so much more obvious.
The Charles E Young Research Library, which we all just call YRL, has been the locale for so many of my fondest UCLA memories so far.
First, the café: Café 451, named after Ray Bradbury’s famous «Fahrenheit 451». I can’t say much about the beverages or food here – I don’t like caffeine, and I think the packaged sandwiches look sort of gross – but I can say that I’m glad it’s there for those who need it. I remember meeting up here with my Gender Studies 10 TA with some other students to go over some review for the final exam. She was so nice, and it was my first quarter at UCLA so I really wanted to do especially well in the class. It really was an awesome introductory college experience to meet up in a random café in one of the libraries; it was as if to say, «In college, almost anything goes!»
Second, the study rooms. You can rent these things online for 2-​hour periods in advance, and they’re really useful for group or partner projects. I remember in particular for my Management 180 class where my group had to create a business and a corresponding business plan all in the span of 10 weeks; we met in one of these to go over our final presentation, which was absolutely the most crucial part of the course. We rented some markers to write on the WALLS (cool, yeah?), a few charging cables for our computers (also really cool, yeah?), and a few HDMIs to plug our computers to the little TV inside (REALLY COOL, YEAH!). We totally nailed that project.
Third, the study areas themselves! The first floor is by far the most modern and – dare I say it – futuristic. On it, there’s an area with bookshelves and tables that is super nice and has no shortage of outlets, and it’s supremely quiet. There’s also a POD AREA where there are tons of orange and green cushy pod couches where you’re sort of closed off yet still open, and there’s a little centralized TV that you can again hook up to. It’s really sort of awesome.
However, my favorite study areas are without a doubt the floors above. These babies have SO MANY BOOKSHEVLES. The outer region next to the windows are basically tables jutting out from the walls with a little shelf above; there are just tons of them. Finding an outlet is pretty tough for total newbies, but a seasoned vet like me knows where they all are (basically, they’re usually a few desks from the corners or in random support pillars).
There also are scattered round tables and large group desks around, which allows for some more versatility.
I just really love these areas because they feel really old but have a charm to them. I take pride in the fact that a lot of people don’t really like going to YRL because of this fact or because there are a lack of outlets or because the whole place can feel really empty and creepy at night. I just really love how I can basically be alone here – at such a huge university like UCLA, it’s almost impossible to find quiet time. YRL is there for me. Always.
The fondest memories for me are just bearing down with my work and walking all the way to YRL – yes, it’s far in North Campus – to get into total study mode. I’ve coded hardcore programming projects here, worked on some crazy animations here, and studied my tail off here countless times. It got to a point where the janitor knew me and we would have a chat every night. Good times, good times.
This is by far my favorite library on campus; I sure won’t take YRL for granted for the remainder of my time here… It’s what made school not just school for me.

YRL is the library of this generation (at least the first floor is).
A modern, tech-​ed up, counterpart to all the other libraries on campus, YRL is a pleasant break from the all too familiar shabby desks of the reading room in Powell. I might have been there one too many times.
Upon walking in, you are instantly greeted with polished floors and a blast of cool AC. On the immediate left, you will find a room with some simple tables and bookshelves. Nothing fancy. But walk through the shelves and you’ll soon find some fancy cushioned single chairs for comfortable sleeping, I mean studying on.
In front on the right you’ll find Café 451. A café inside a library. Basically everything that Powell is missing, YRL has on the first floor.
What really stands out about YRL though are the huge array of green and orange study pods. These pods can be reserved for free online and have monitors and cables aplenty. No quarter is complete without reserving these pods at least once. Gotta live a little, am i right?
If you are feeling adventurous, go upstairs and you’ll find tons of places running the perimeter of each floor. These definitely aren’t your front-​page study spots though by any standard. But it’s always nice to know it’s there for you (since no one wants to study there, just kidding).

Large area with plenty of space and tables big in an old dated building. Thus not my favorite place to read or stify

Favorite library on campus. Laptop rentals, reservable study rooms and pods, both with shareable monitors. Quiet reading room, dope basement, and you can go to the higher floors if can’t find a spot

I’m not normally a fan of studying in libraries because they make me kind of claustrophobic and sometimes students don’t shower (especially during finals week)… But I do like this library a lot and it’s one of my favorite places on campus!
After the renovation, this place is truly state of the art with its study rooms and really cool study pods that you can hook up to your laptop and work on presentations and what not with your fellow peers. I think you can reserve each spot for about a 2 hour time period which is usually plenty of time to get things done! My favorite thing about this place is definitely the atmosphere. It’s well-​lit, spacious and just makes me feel productive being here. Although I just graduated and won’t be back anytime soon, this was my favorite library on campus to study at! It does get crowded during finals and midterms seasons but there’s plenty of private study areas on higher floors, it’s not renovated yet so they’re more old school, but it’s better than nothing!
Another plus is that they have a little café inside where you can order coffee and pastries! They have chairs and tables there where you can eat, I’m not sure if food is allowed in the study places, but I’ve always brought my coffee and nobody has said anything!

They’ve really cleaned this place up a lot. It’s much more inviting than when I attended UCLA back in 2006.
They have a number of computer labs, event/​lecture rooms, and lots of study space (not to mention a coffee shop!).
If you’re a diehard nerd, you might never make it out of this place before heading into other areas of the campus.

One of my favorite places to study! If you’re studying with a group, the Pods and study rooms are great since you can talk out loud as well as eat. You can connect your computer to the tv screens to view powerpoint slides and whatnot. If you’re doing serious studying by yourself, there’s cubicles upstairs and it’s extremely quiet. There’s a café downstairs that sells coffee and pastries which are decent but overall, I love the pods and the fact that I can eat in here while studying.

Great peaceful library to study at. It’s generally not as crowded as Powell library which is the main library everyone at UCLA goes to.
They also feature these awesome chairs in the reading room that are super comfortable to sit and relax in.

YRL is a perfect place to study, whether with friends or alone. There are plenty of pods for having a group study sesh!
It is quiet, allowing students to focus on studying or take naps, which I often do!
There is a café within the library, which has often been very convenient for me when I am half asleep.
You can also rent MacBooks for up to 4 hours at a time, which is on the smartest ideas ever.

This library is the reason I go to UCLA. Well maybe it’s just one of the reasons. I know a lot of people like the pods which are great but the library’s nice format goes beyond that with lots of study rooms and an easy to find book set-​up.
Also the librarians are super helpful. For instance the great thing with being a UC student is that you can request a book form other libraries, even government offices if the book is not here. However the process can seem a little confusing but the librarians actively sought to help me out with this.

BEST library on campus. Only downside is that it’s so awesome, everyone comes here and it gets super crowded sometimes.
The café inside is super convenient for a snack or caffeine fix when I’m making use of the outlets in between classes.
The library itself is sleek, new, and pretty to look at. Plus they have archives and all kinds of awesome reading material. I also really like the interesting displays they often have in the middle of the foyer when you walk in.
The pods in the study area are amazing, especially for group work. It has all the hook ups you need to plug in your computers, link computers, and put your work up on the big screen for everyone to see and collaborate on — and they take reservations!
Outlets! Outlets everywhere! (on the remodeled floors)
However, if all the new-​ness and futuristic fixtures freak you out, the upper floors still have that old-​school dusty library feel.
Oh, and its quiet. Like a library.

Love the environment, and i love the fact that theres a café inside the library for all your caffeine needs, but im getting sick of the assholes sleeping in the pods. the library is a place to get work done, not deter others from doing their work because youre too busy sleeping at a workstation because you partied too hard with your frat/​sorority last night. liek omg raid last night was sooooo willddddddddd just had to knock at @ yrl #yolo

This has to be the best library on campus.
Pros
–Only library on campus to have a café inside of it, named after the late great Ray Bradbury Café 451.
–The most up to date library there is, it was just remolded
and everything looks and feels new.
–Their are study areas that have personal televisions for groups, you can just connect it to your laptop and show images on there!
–There is no shortage of outlets
— Very quiet
Cons
–Can get crowded on the remolded floors
–The upper floors are still old and a bit disgusting and crowded, but there are a lot of empty spaces for quiet study
–Not enough outlets on the upper floors

This place didn’t deserve a review until the much-​needed renovation was completed earlier this year. It’s now so beautiful, so clean, and so modern! Well at least the lower levels are. The book stacks still look like… book stacks.
But the only thing you need to know: FOOD ALLOWED. #omfgyes

A major renovation of the library was completed in September 2011!
The new space was designed by Perkins+Will and Eva Maddox Branded Environments.
The transformation has quickly lead to increased popularity on campus, so come early otherwise your main problem will be simply finding an open seat.
For more info:

I’m keeping this short and simple: this place is insane … and in all the good ways possible.
UCLA, I commend you for finally allocating money correctly in renovating a dead library into one of the campus’s most AWESOME locations.
Here’s the deal: you walk in and you immediately feel like you’re in a space ship in the year 3000. Bright colors, comfortable seating, and … did I mention there are spaces with HUGE FLAT SCREEN TVS to hook your laptop up to?
I would come here everyday … except everyone caught on and now invades this library. SO, my advice? Come here early to get a seat … or at least just walk in here to see UCLA’s now #1 library.
SO, y’all can ignore the other reviews that say this place is empty. It definitely is NOT anymore.

I’m sitting in YRL right now, and wow! It’s changed SO MUCH.
I actually can’t remember the last time I was in here. I think it was about 3 years ago and I was abroad for a year, but I’m back! I walked and was genuinely confused where I was because it’s so nice and pretty. It used to be so claustrophobic, shitty, and ugly. However, now there are very modern glass window/​walls and colorful couches with huge tv’s for you to hook up your laptop to. I’m not exactly sure why this was designed this way since they’re not enclosed, so your group talking might disturb others. oh well! Oh yea, ther are like. way more outlets now so you can plug in your laptop! Yay!
It’s like super empty/​quiet in here, so I think I already like it better than Powell! I get a huge entire couch to myself! Bwahhahaha between-​class naptimes! NICE!

Pros: always has open seating, (usually) dead silent
Cons: toooooooo depressing (maybe less depressing than Powell though — at least there is some sunlight), too empty (as in, little motivation for me to do work once I get there — I really might as well be at home)
Overall, it’s a good place to study if you need complete silence, but the Research Library just doesn’t do it for me. I come here in between classes sometimes, but that’s about it.

I never go to Powell when Young is a short 3– to 5– minute walk away. Why, you say? Because it is EMPTY.
For me, I can’t stand Powell because a ton of people walk into and out of the room. It’s extremely distracting even if Powell is full of the sounds of people turning pages. SInce there are so many people in Powell, they even start talking! Cannot work. Must get out before I maul someone. To Young, ho!
Enter Young. Second floor. Students hunched over large tables. A row of isolated workstations against the wall. Shoddy Wi-​Fi access. Less facebook? Less YouTube? I can actually work!
The only thing about Young is that it’s COLD and the vibe is kind of creepy because of the quiet. On weekends, I sometimes want to bring a blanket with me, but that’d be weird to walk into the library with my Snuggie on. The cold keeps me awake and makes me more motivated to finish so I can leave and thaw. Whenever I use the restroom on the second floor, I swear some sort of specter is going to jump out at me from the brick wall and cackle, «NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW» as it pulls me into the abyss.

Powell has the looks and the comfy chairs (that are usually always taken), but chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for here.
And it will always be URL (University Research Library) to me…