Those nasty rumours

Most students’ first experience with Robarts Library is not with the library itself, but with the rumors surrounding the library. And there are many of them. Before I get into dispelling some of the myths, you should know that the staff at Robarts Library likes the fact that these rumors are going around because it gets people talking and it maintains the sense of mystery that surrounds the structure. Thirty years after it was built, people are still talking about the building, and that makes it a success.RUMOUR 1: The building is sinking a few centimeters a year because the engineers didn’t take into consideration the weight of the books at the time they designed it, so it’s sinking.

VERDICT: Untrue, unfortunately. However, there are rumours that the libraries at both the University of Waterloo and the University of Indiana are also sinking for the same reason.

RUMOUR 2: The building was designed to look like a peacock.

VERDICT: Ambiguous. Robarts staff will not reveal the secrets of the architects. They claim that they had not intentionally designed the library to look like a peacock. However, peacocks are a symbol of pride, and the collection of the library is the pride of the campus.

The building has been called other things as well, like an overgrown turkey or a dinosaur. Staff at Robarts, however, do agree that looking northwest at the library, there does appear to be a head, perhaps even a beak. I believe that the staff at Robarts know more than they let on.

RUMOUR 3: The architect committed suicide after people couldn’t figure out what the building looked like.

VERDICT: The architects, A.S. Mathers and E.J. Haldenby, are both dead, whether they committed suicide is unknown. However, this is one of the more ridiculous rumours .

RUMOUR 4: The triangular design is able to withstand a nuclear blast.

VERDICT: Ms. Gabriella Bravo, Assistant Director of Public Affairs and Patron Relations at Robarts explained this myth in the following way: “Look at the windows behind me, does it really look as though you’d be safe from a nuclear blast?”

RUMOUR 5: The building caters more to professors and graduate students than it does to the undergraduate student.

VERDICT: True and false. Ms. Bravo states that “when this building was conceived, it was conceived as a graduate research library. But [in the late 1960’s] the student movements were quite strong, and [the students] staged quite a bit of a campaign to prevent the university from keeping the undergraduates out of the building and they staged actions, sit-ins, and got the press involved. So they won and the university decided to keep the building opened to all.”

RUMOUR 6: There is a bug problem at Robarts that has caused the deterioration of books.

VERDICT: Bugs are not the cause of any deterioration of books at Robarts. However, the type of paper used in some books is a problem. Some books are made with acidic paper, which becomes brittle and crumbles apart over time. These books are currently being restored and put into digital form. Acidic paper is no longer used in the books at Robarts.

Rodents are also not a problem at the library. However, staff discourages anyone from eating or drinking in the stacks so that this potential problem can be avoided.

RUMOUR 7: A few years ago, the washrooms on the 9th and 11th floors had to be locked due to too much homosexual sex.

VERDICT: True, the washrooms were locked for a couple of months until the problem was dealt with. However, the washrooms are now unlocked.

NEW RUMOUR: There are engineers at Robarts that work full time in the “huge engineering system in the bowels of the building” to keep the building functioning. Their offices are in the basement of the building, and not even Ms. Bravo has seen them.

VERDICT: True.