G2 MODULE A

Centrale Bilbliotheek Rotterdam - Hoogstraat 110
October 15th, 2021
Enter Library @ 14:40
Ground Floor:
The spinning door spins just slightly too fast, there is a pressure to enter quickly. Open space, the information desk is right in front of me, because everyone could see me there, I would look for a less central place to ask for information. We have to enter the library proper through tag-detectors, makes me feel like I am entering a store. I am drawn to the shelves that carry information booklets about events. The shiny and small ones, about the Wildlife Film Festival get picked up by my groupmate and I. It feels that since they are small and at the end of the shelf it is more okay to pick them up than the other booklets. The ground floor has a tile pattern of large matte tiles and small, rectangular, shiny small ones. My eyes are drawn to it and I find the reflectiveness annoying to my peripheral vision. There are so many lights above my head, it feels excessive.
Escelators:
I feel more comfortable taking the escelator than the elevator, I will be able to observe the surroundings on the escelator more anyway. There are people going up and down, since the stairs are narrow everyone has to stand and wait for the person in front to get off. On the escelator people look forwards to the floor they're going to.
First Floor:
The first floor is carpeted as are the ones that follow. The carpet muffles the sound of footsteps and moving chairs, this is good for concentration. The lights on this floor and the ones that follow have large lampshades to provide consistant, cool but not painfully bright light. There are a lot of lamps, the cieling feels very busy on all the levels. On every floor the large windows facing west (?) provide lots of natural light on the escalators and study spaces. This floor has a large open work area with empty tables and chairs to be arranges as comfortable. There are rentable work/conference spaces as well.
Second - Fourth Floors:
These floors have different layouts for the shelves and different numbers of work tables, the general layout is similar though. The escalators are close to the windows, on the same side the floor is open to see all the way down to the first floor. The railings near these holes have long tables with dividers for individual work. The dividers serve to only divide work space, not hide you from the people around sitting on the next chair(s). The floor is carpeted except for next to the library computers, there are rolly-chairs there so there is some laminated floor there. Different sections are color and letter coded.
Fifth floor:
This is where I decided to sit down and observe. I sit at a row of tilted tables with bright, movable lights attached, facing the escalators and windows, behind me is the C section, coloured teal (the nature books section) and another row of of tilted tables. In front of me there is also the infromation section with high-tables and uncomfortable looking stools, only one man is using a computer there. There is a copy machine and elevators (2) to my left and a newspaper rack to my right. Nobody is sitting right next to or in front of me. Diagonally from me are two elderly people reading newspapers, after an empty table to my right, another elderly man is loudly flipping though a newspaper. Before sitting down, my groupmate and I walked a circle around this floor, searching for a space to sit down where we wouldn't interfere but could also observe the most area.
1) Facts:
I am on the 5th floor. There are four escalators in front of me, they only go one direction each and are narrow. In each row of tilted tables there are 6 tables facing each other, a total of twelve, they are attached to each other line one singular piece of furniture. From where I am sitting I see four concrete columns with a yellow line labeled "A", six unlabeled columns, and in the distance 3 comulns with a blue line labeled "E". While I was typing this the elderly couple in front of me left and a young man with a lenovo laptop sat where the elderly man was sitting. I just made a second of eye contact with him. He is standing up and leaving from that table, he left his AH water bottle on the table. There is a single man at the information area, fidgeting at the uncomfotable stool and squinting at the screen. The man had come back for his water. I didn't say anything when he left it in the first place. At the long tables with dividers students are sitting with their textbooks and notebooks open, I assume studying. To my right there are tables arranged in an oval with desktops, they have more comfortable looking chairs. Some people are sitting there just using the desks and not using the computers. At the tilted tables there are now 4 people reading newspapers and using the lamps provided for extra light, I am the only one using this space with a laptop. This makes me thing this space has the purpose of a reading-type study area, to concentrate on difficult texts. However at the tilted tables behind me there are young-adults also using their laptops so maybe this is a multi-purpose space.
2) Sensory Impressions:
I see: The seemingly hundreds of lapshades above me, the too bright light from the lamp attached to my desk. The red tape around the infrmation booth, the maroon carpet and matching chairs, that each desk is a different color (red-ish, blue-ish, grey-ish, teal-ish, yellow-ish), people walking aorund looking for a place to sit, students with bad posture looking at their work.
I hear: The copy machine printing papers, somebody's iphone alarm, people flipping newspaper pages loudly, seats being dragged across the carpet, the sound of the escalator moving slowly when it isnt in use, someone's sneakers squeaking on the linolium, people's clothes swishing against each other, my keyboard typing, soft voices discussing in a different area of this floor, people ruffling through their bags, somebody's music theough their headphones (they're listening to something very loud).
I feel: My back aching since I tried to sit straight and it feels unnatural, my dry fingertips since the air here is dry as well, the cold of a draft coming from below (?), my shoes dragging across the carpet, the back of this chair on my spine (it is pretty hard, not very comfortable). I feel awkward looking at people and not using the space for what it's meant for.
I smell: The cold air of the AC, old paper and books, dust, the specific type of musk that comes from carpet, myself (I sweat when I am anxious and I feel anxious today in general).
I taste: My own mouth feels dry due to the air here, when I breathe in I can taste the hand sanitizer that's on a table nearby, somebody must have used it near me.
3) Personal responses to the fact of recording field notes: The man I made eye contact with left once we did so, it is unclear if he noticed me watching people. The eldery people who were sitting in the tables facing mine could have noticed me taking pictures, I hope they don't think I was taking pictures of them. Watching people read or study is pretty boring, nobody is making facial expressions reacting to their texts (that I can see), body language is pretty restricted. At most I see people shifting in their chairs and how they slouch, people's faces are close to their work. There is little body language to describe. I feel that my typing is too loud. I don't know how to complete the next criteria since I don't understand dutch, I can only assume what is being said. Maybe I can observe more when walking around.
4) Specific words/phrases: The people talking in their groups are speaking about their topic or assignmnets I assume, in hushed voices to not disturb others. I think an elderly man asked the woman next to him what she was reading, since she pointed to the article as a response. Two girls who were previosuly working had a short conversation louder than usual and then got up to leave, I saw this a fiew times with different people, they probably asked if they're ready to go. People talking on the phone speak louder than the people in groups, I hear the tone of answering questions and then "dag" or "doi" at the end to say goodbye.
5) Questions about people and behavior: Why do people speak so loud on the phone? Why are the chairs on the tall tables so uncomfortable? Why sit at a computer desk to study if you aren't using the computer? Why do the desklamps have no identifiable way to be turned off? Why do people choose the places they choose to sit down and work? Why the fifth floor and not the third? Does the book section around determine anything? Why does it feel invasive to sit down at a large table if somebody is already sitting there? Why does it feel super invasive to sit right across from somebody? Why are round tables treated as single tables, even if there are more chairs on them.