A Third Space: How UB Libraries Shaped My Graduate Education

by KAITLYN LIU

When I moved to Buffalo sight unseen in 2022, I had the unfortunate experience of discovering the apartment I signed a lease for was not yet built. This made the first three months of my graduate education exceedingly difficult, as I balanced the stress of finding a new place to live with my coursework. Living in a cramped, dusky hotel room was not exactly the place I felt motivated to write. It was at this time that I turned to the UB Libraries. 

The library has always functioned as a “third space” for me — a place that is not home or work, but that necessary in-between. Although I worked on campus, stepping into the Grand Reading Room felt like another place entirely. The quietness of that space, surrounded by other hardworking students, consistently motivates me to write. In fact, when my parents watched my dog for me earlier this month, I was most excited to grab a coffee and spend a long day in that very room writing my dissertation! When I finally found a place to live, I spent the next two years living a short walk from the Buffalo & Erie County Library in downtown Buffalo.

While the libraries at UB are an important physical space for me, they also play an essential role in my doctoral research. In the third year of my PhD program, I had to read 75 texts whose content would comprise an oral qualifying exam that spring. I needed to pass this exam in order to proceed in the doctoral program. Thankfully, the library made it easy to borrow nearly every one of those 75 books. If they were not held here at UB, I knew I could receive a copy within days thanks to the Delivery+ system. One year later, these books are at the center of my dissertation research, and it is thanks to UB Libraries’ investment in accessible scholarship.

My involvement with UB Libraries also extends to my on-campus positions. As a writing instructor, I frequently host librarians in the classroom to teach first-year students about research and what UB Libraries offer. What is most important to me is that students understand that libraries, and reading, are important acts of resistance. To have access to libraries like those at UB, with millions of resources at your hand, is a privilege in an age of disinformation. 

Even beyond academic research, I seek to remind students of the power of leisurely reading. For example, I host a speculative fiction book club for all UB students. In my new position as a Web Communications Assistant for UB Libraries, I also prepared hundreds of books for February’s Blind Date with a Book event. For students and academics, we could all use a reminder that reading, whether for work or for pleasure, is radical – and I thank UB Libraries for the absolute plethora of reading they offer! 

Kaitlyn Liu graduated with her BA in English from Binghamton University in May 2022, and she plans to graduate with her PhD in English from the University at Buffalo in May 2028.