Struggling to find a study spot? Try searching off the beaten path.

This article from the archives was updated Aug. 26, 2024.

There’s no worse feeling than carrying a bag loaded with books across campus only to find that someone else has sprawled their assignments across your favorite table in the Commons Room. It’s even worse when there’s not an empty seat in sight.

No need to fret. There are plenty of study spots nearby — if you know where to look.

Several Pitt schools have their own libraries, which are open to the entire University community and often less crowded than Hillman. You can also use an Office of the Registrar tool to find empty classrooms around campus.

Keep scrolling for tips to find your perfect location, even in some of the Pittsburgh campus’ most popular buildings:

Hillman Library

While the first floor is typically buzzing with chatter, you’ll find more quiet spaces the higher you venture in Hillman Library. There are spacious seating areas on the third floor, where you can study among the archives and stacks. Those who need noise at an absolute minimum should seek out a spot on the fourth floor of Hillman Library, where conversation and noise are prohibited. Both floors have private, enclosed study rooms you can book for up to five people.

William Pitt Union 

To find this next stop, step off the elevator on the sixth floor of the William Pitt Union. The Office of Inclusion and Belonging is a conversational, comfortable place to study. Through its wide glass doors are couches, chairs and a kitchenette where you can warm up a lunch or make a cup of coffee to fuel your study session.

Cathedral of Learning 

You’ll be lucky to find an open seat in the Cathedral Commons Room during busy study days. Instead, venture up to floors 35 and 36 — home of Pitt’s David C. Frederick Honors College — for group and individual study spaces complete with a sprawling view of Oakland from the top of the Cathedral. Most floors have small, less-populated study spots hidden among offices and classrooms, so don’t hesitate to press your luck with a random stop on the elevator.

— Obianuju Okoye and Nora Smith, photography by Tom Altany