“First Visit – Visiting the LibraryWhat do you think of when you hear the word library? Is a library a large repository of books? Is a library a place where students can access computers and other equipment? Is a library a quiet place where you can lose yourself in your task of choice: reading, researching or studying? What makes a library a “library”? My visit to the Michell Memorial Library simultaneously answered and further investigated the questions posed above. I had a preconceived idea of ​​what a library should be: quiet, dingy, and uninteresting. But the towering five-story structure made me question my definition of what a library could be. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay I woke up early Wednesday morning at the crack of dawn and rode my bike to the entrance to Hardy Road. I had heard that the Mississippi State Library was impressive, but I went into the visit with the mindset, "I won't believe it until I see it." I can say with certainty that the size of the building already left me enchanted. I thought, “If the building itself is that big, what could be housed inside it?” As I explored the building, I found spacious study rooms, state-of-the-art computer labs, and of course, a large selection of books. I kind of expected to find those things, but I wasn't prepared for the MaxxSouth Digital Media Center and its 3D printers and VR hardware. There was nothing boring about the structure; the building was very quiet, which may have been unnerving for some, but I found that the silence enhanced my experience. The relative absence of noise helped me concentrate on the task at hand: searching for documents in the Special Collections room. The research itself wasn't special; I sat down with my phone, pencil and binder and made myself comfortable. I prepared for the long and tedious process of archival research, but the time passed faster than I expected. One moment I was putting my things in the lockers and the next moment I was returning the key to my locker. The time frame I experienced was not specific to my visit to the Michell Memorial Library. While working on the capstone project of my high school composition class, I became immersed in the topic, in the media portrayal of hacking and its effects on the practice of programming, to the point that I read for pleasure instead of researching the topic. In this regard, the research I conducted at Special Collections was no different than my experience with research-based writing. However, the protocols and restrictions imposed by the staff elevated not only the significance of the project itself but also the items held in the archive. In the past, my research has been detached and impersonal, but this experience required me to actively participate in the act of research, identifying relevant articles, copying them, and making logical hypotheses about where similar articles might be found. As a result, my journey into Special Collections has broadened my research tools. I would dive headfirst into a research project and let what I read form the topic of my paper. I have since learned that effective research is intentional and systematic. Overall, my trip to the library, or more specifically Special Collections, was an enjoyable one. I can't say I was inspired, or that the experience left me any wiser than when I first entered, but it was still a new experience. For.