By Gionna Bean, Opinion Editor
Study pod – Photo by aqlibrarian on Instagram
On Oct. 19, 2026, students witnessed the installation of new contraptions in the Grace Hauenstein Library. The event caused a lot of confusion, making students wonder what this new addition to the library– such a central place of campus life– could possibly be.
Turns out– these new contraptions were called “study pods,” as introduced on the aqlibrarian Instagram as a post with the caption, “Did you hear? The library has a new study pod.”
“I was so confused at first,” fifth year Zoebelle Bean said. “I was in the library for one of my Writing Center consultations, and they were in there building this big rectangular thing on the spot. They had to put in everything, the walls, the table– they even had to put a floor in. Ya, that’s right, a floor just for the pod.”
Grace Hauenstein Library inside – Photo by Aquinas College
In a public poll, 67% of students said that the pod is weird and that they don’t understand why it was established, while 33% said that the pod isn’t weird and that it makes a good addition to the library.
These statistics present the possibility that many students may not react positively to the addition of study pods. If more than half of students do not agree that study pods are a good structure to have in the library, that does not bode well for the school.
According to research from both Privacy Pod and Winpod- both leading pod companies- study pods can cost anywhere from $6,000-$10,000. Is this a good use of the college’s money, especially if not all students are in agreement over their usefulness?
Then again, the change could be about keeping up with other colleges and universities.
Other colleges and universities have had similar structures put into their libraries. However, they usually have chairs that face side to side instead of facing the wall.
The pods at Aquinas are built like the latter, with the chairs facing the wall, away from the glass wall that displays the pod to the whole library.
“I think they’re cool,” sophomore Joey Neuman said, “but I just don’t know if I’d use them, though. Maybe the placement could be improved, but all around they are definitely cool.”
The new study pod has definitely made a dramatic entrance, and whether the new place to study proves to be useful or not remains to be seen.
