Iowa State’s large campus offers students many opportunities to steal away from the busy school life and get down to some serious studying. There are numerous places to study all over campus within a few minutes walk, no matter where you are.

On the north end of campus, there’s always the Parks Library. It offers some sweet study spots that are easy to overlook. Aside from the tables and cubicles on almost every floor and tier, there are a few upholstered chairs along the back walls of the floors, which offer a nice place to study in the sun, or alternatively, a nice place for a nap.

Lagomarcino Courtyard is another cool northern spot because it has lots of seating in the exterior courtyard with close access to the Courtyard Cafe and nearby bus stops.

For those on the east side of campus, recently remodeled Hixon-Lied is a quiet place for individual or group study and is also home to the Academic Success Center, a resource for tutoring services, supplemental instruction and academic counseling.

On the south side, the Memorial Union is full of great places. Aside from the numerous nooks and crannies, the Union has many rooms designated for studying. The Browsing Library is also a great resource for students. Located in the basement of the building, the Browsing Library has a wide selection of books, popular magazines, Bomb yearbooks, newspapers and even music and games to help students relax between cram sessions.

If you’re on the west end, almost any building will do for a place to curl up with a book. The atrium in the College of Design is a large open space with a coffee shop. Hoover and Howe hall also have lots of tables and benches for individual and group work.

Ames offers tons of places to study off-campus, like the Ames Public Library, coffee shops and parks.

For those confined to the campus area, Campustown has a few great places as well. Stomping grounds is a coffee shop just south of Welch Avenue Station and Golden Wok on Welch Avenue that serves coffee, sandwiches and cold beverages. Stomping Grounds also has an outdoor eating area during the warm months that occasionally features live music on Friday nights.

For the most part, studying can happen almost anywhere on campus, as long as there’s a place to sit. Anywhere from the Parks Library courtyard to the basement of Carver can provide a relaxing environment to get some serious work done. Be sure to be creative when finding somewhere to cram, you never knows how inspiring a location can be.