Where the Characters from Mean Girls Would Study for Finals

This finals week, FSU Libraries are taking it back to the 2000’s with the iconic movie, Mean Girls.

We’ll be celebrating all things fun and fetch this week, with events like free Cheese and Crackers (we’ll have more than enough for eight people) and Janis’s Face Mask Night (no foot cream, we promise). We’re even bringing Therapy Dogs to Strozier! Be sure to check out our full event calendar here.

Now, let’s get to the actual studying. We’ve compiled a list of our favorite spots on campus where we think the characters from Mean Girls would study. Strozier Library boasts five full floors of study space, ranging from a more social environment on the first two floors to a serious atmosphere on the third, fourth, and fifth. Seated at the center of FSU’s science buildings, Dirac makes an easy stop for STEM students.

This blog post will help you align your Mean Girls twin with one of the many study spots to choose from at Strozier, Dirac, and more! Are you a Damien? You might like the Mary Lou Norwood Reading Room. More of a Mathlete? Swipe into Dirac! And if you’re feeling like royal Regina George this week, check out the Werkmeister Reading Room, a hidden gem on campus.

If none of these spots sound right, keep reading! We’ve got the rooms and resources to get you started on a totally fetch finals week.


Karen Smith: The Learning District at Strozier Library

Karen would definitely need to study at the Strozier Learning District, where walk-up tutoring for Math, Physics, and Chemistry is offered Sunday – Wednesday from 8pm to Midnight. She might also stop by from 5pm to 8pm, when the Reading and Writing Center offers help on essays and other written projects. Our tutors can certainly help you spell the word “orange.” Looking for a little extra help with your finals? Head to the Learning District, located on the first floor of Strozier Library.


Regina George: The Werkmeister Reading Room, Dodd Hall

If Regina would trade her Mom for the master bedroom, then she’ll definitely trade a study room for the splendid Werkmeister Reading Room in Dodd Hall. With its vaulted ceiling, ornate blue windows, and gorgeous stained-glass murals, this is the place for Regina George! The Werkmeister Reading Room was built in 1923, serving as the original main campus library until Strozier was erected in the 1950s. Today, it’s home to the FSU Heritage Museum, where you can peruse a collection of old Florida State photographs, artifacts, and other memorabilia. If you’re looking for a little glitzy ambience to go along with your finals prep, head over to Dodd Hall for quiet study 10am-3pm, Monday-Thursday.


Gretchen Weiners: The Strozier Starbucks

“That’s why her hair’s so big… it’s full of secrets!” The Strozier Starbucks is about as close as you’ll get to a lively high-school lunchroom vibe. As the resident gossip queen of North Shore High, we think Gretchen would choose this spot. The Strozier Starbucks is open from 7:30am to 12:00am weekly, with limited weekend hours. If you want the 411, head to the café seating area on the first floor of Strozier!


Aaron Samuels: A Group Study Room

The most popular guy in school, it only makes sense that Aaron would book a group study room to hit the books with his best friends. Study rooms are available at both Strozier and Dirac and can be booked up to three days in advance. Study rooms offer projectors, floor-to-ceiling white boards, and seating for up to 12 people, depending on the space. If you’d prefer to study on your own, we’ve got you covered! Individual study rooms are also available. You can check out a key from the main desk in Strozier or book online for Dirac by clicking here.


The Mathletes: Dirac Science Library

Need to get serious about STEM? Dirac’s the place to be. We’re sure you’d find the Mathletes here, hard at work preparing for their next competition. As Florida State’s Science Library, Dirac is located at the heart of FSU’s STEM facilities, making it a convenient stop on your way to and from finals. Inside, you’ll find wall-length white boards, desks flanking the windows, and the new Dirac Media Suite, where you can complete audio-visual projects. Dirac has a quiet, serious atmosphere that’s good for finals prep; and if you need to destress, head outside to the porch or the surrounding green, where you might find some of FSU’s beloved campus cats looking for a little love.


Janis Ian: The Fourth Floor of Strozier

We think Janis would study between the stacks of the fourth floor, where you’ll find our extensive Fine Arts collection at Strozier. As a non-talking zone, the fourth floor provides a quiet, yet comfortable study space. Janis can plan her revenge on The Plastics at a study booth, or draft a new sketch for her show on the wide tables located at the center of the floor.


Damien: The Mary Lou Norwood Reading Room

Our personal favorite study spot, The Mary Lou Norwood Reading Room is located on the second floor of Strozier Library. Damien would likely find himself here, looking out over the different cliques and clubs that abound on Landis Green. The historic ambience of this room makes it truly unique to the rest of Strozier Library, not to mention its panoramic views of campus. Here, you’ll also find vintage FSU yearbooks dating as far back as the 1920s; they can make for a fun and fascinating read when you need a study break. The Mary Lou Norwood Reading Room is a non-talking, non-eating or drinking room, so you won’t be able to practice for the talent show here. It’s open from 9am-6pm Monday-Thursday, closing at 5 on Fridays.


Kevin G: The Dirac Basement

As the captain of The Mathletes, Kevin would choose the quietest spot on campus… the Dirac basement. The non-talking rule is strictly adhered to in the basement, so it’s a great spot if you require zero distractions. Here, you’ll find individual study booths along the wall, tables and chairs located the shelves, and individual study rooms available for booking. This is no place for noise, so if you need to have a Mathletes team meeting, head up to the first floor.


Cady Heron: The Restroom

Last but not least, we have Cady Heron, who’s got a bit of a habit for hanging around the restroom. While we hope you won’t have to study in the stalls, Men’s and Women’s restrooms are available on all floors of Strozier Library. They’re located in the main annex on floors 1-3; and can be found in the annex stairwell on floors 4-5. There is an All-Gender restroom located on the first floor of Strozier, behind Special Collections and to the right. Dirac Science Library has restrooms on all floors. We wish you luck on finals… it’s gonna be SO fetch!


This post was written by Lila Rush-Hickey, Student Engagement Assistant at FSU Libraries.

13 Books to Read This Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate the women of both past and present who make a difference in our lives. It’s a time to champion the progress we’ve made, and to challenge ourselves to go further in the fight for safety, visibility, and equality for every woman.

With so much to celebrate, what better way to learn about women’s history than to check out a book by a woman author? We’ve selected 13 different books from our catalog to get you started on your Women’s History Month reads.

This display highlights books from across time, place, and culture that each share diverse perspectives and experiences of womanhood. Below, you’ll find classic, must-read novels like Mrs. Dalloway and The Bluest Eye alongside popular modern works like the New York Times Bestseller, Mexican Gothic. For the more academically inclined, we’ve selected essential feminist writings by Audre Lorde and bell hooks; and for those seeking a gripping story, we’ve got Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban and Radclyffe Hall’s once-banned lesbian novel, The Well of Loneliness. You’ll find everything from laugh-out-loud comics like Alison Bechdel’s jaunty The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, to compelling dramas like The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

There is something for everyone this Women’s History Month!

Each book featured here can be checked out at Strozier Library or retrieved online through the FSU Libraries website. To search for more women’s books, browse our online catalog.


Mrs. Dalloway

by Virginia Woolf

“Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” It’s one of the most famous opening lines in literature, that of Virginia Woolf’s beloved masterpiece of time, memory, and the city. In the wake of World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic, Clarissa Dalloway, elegant and vivacious, is preparing for a party and remembering those she once loved. In another part of London, Septimus Smith is suffering from shell-shock and on the brink of madness. Their days interweave and their lives converge as the party reaches its glittering climax. In a novel in which she perfects the interior monologue and recapitulates the life cycle in the hours of the day, from first light to the dark of night, Woolf achieves an uncanny simulacrum of consciousness, bringing past, present, and future together, and recording, impression by impression, minute by minute, the feel of life itself.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com. Description provided by Penguin Publishing Group.

Did you know?

Virginia Woolf co-owned and operated a publishing company, The Hogarth Press, which published both her works and those of her contemporaries- authors like T.S. Eliot, Sigmund Freud, and E.M. Forster. As such, the Woolfs’ house became something of a cultural hub for London artists of the time.

Feminism is for Everybody

by bell hooks

bell hooks establishes what feminism is truly about through Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. The book analytically explores feminism from an intelligent perspective, shining light on the successes and shortcomings of the feminist movement. Removing the strong sexual appetite from the topic of love, the author explores ways to end oppression and sexism. Consider the book a simple guide to understanding feminism.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com. Description provided by bell hooks Books.

The Bluest Eye

by Toni Morrison

Pecola Breedlove, a young eleven-year-old black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Yet as her dreams grow more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity.

Image and description courtesy of Penguin Books.

Did you know?

In the 1960s, Toni Morrison worked as one of the first Black fiction editors at Random House, where she gave voice to other Black authors such as Angela Davis and Gayl Jones by acquiring and editing their books. In 1993, she became the first Black recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Mexican Gothic

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Image and description courtesy of Penguin Books.

The Essential Dykes to Watch Our For

by Alison Bechdel

Settle in to this wittily illustrated soap opera (Bechdel calls it “half op-ed column and half endless serialized Victorian novel”) of the lives, loves, and politics of Mo, Lois, Sydney, Sparrow, Ginger, Stuart, Clarice, and the rest of the cast of cult-fav characters. Most of them are lesbians, living in a midsize American city that may or may not be Minneapolis. Bechdel’s brilliantly imagined countercultural band of friends—academics, social workers, bookstore clerks—fall in and out of love, negotiate friendships, raise children, switch careers, and cope with aging parents. Bechdel fuses high and low culture—from foreign policy to domestic routine, hot sex to postmodern theory—in a serial graphic narrative “suitable for humanists of all persuasions.”

Image courtesy of Amazon.com. Description provided by HarperCollins.

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance and silence. Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery and Sofia and their experience. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery. Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker’s epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.

Image and description courtesy of Penguin Books.

Did you know?

Alice Walker participated in the historic March on Washington at which Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1966, she moved to Mississippi to help local African Americans register to vote and much of her life was devoted to the fight for civil rights.

My Home as I Remember: A Collection of Essays

edited by Lee Maracle and Sandra Laronde

My Home As I Remember describes literary and artistic achievements of First Nations, Inuit and Metis women across Canada and the United States, including contributions from New Zealand and Mexico. Their voices and creative expression of identity and place are richly varied, reflecting the depth of the culturally diverse energy found on these continents. Over 60 writers and visual artists are represented from nearly 25 nations, including writers such as Lee Maracle, Chrystos and Louise Bernice Halfe, and visual artists Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Teresa Marshall, Kenojuak Ashevak, Doreen Jensen and Shelley Niro; and some who are published for the first time in this landmark volume. Lee Maracle is the author of numerous books, including Ravensong. Sandra Laronde, writer/actor, is Executive Director of Native Women in the Arts.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com. Description provided by Dundurn Press.

Dreaming in Cuban

by Cristina García

Cristina García’s acclaimed book is the haunting, bittersweet story of a family experiencing a country’s revolution and the revelations that follow. The lives of Celia del Pino and her husband, daughters, and grandchildren mirror the magical realism of Cuba itself, a landscape of beauty and poverty, idealism and corruption. Dreaming in Cuban is “a work that possesses both the intimacy of a Chekov story and the hallucinatory magic of a novel by Gabriel García Márquez” (The New York Times). In celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the novel’s original publication, this edition features a new introduction by the author.

Image and Description courtesy of Penguin Books.

The Well of Loneliness

by Radclyffe Hall

The Well of Loneliness tells the story of tomboyish Stephen, who hunts, wears trousers and cuts her hair short – and who gradually comes to realise that she is attracted to women. Charting her romantic and professional adventures during the First World War and beyond, the novel provoked a furore on first publication in 1928 for its lesbian heroine and led to a notorious legal trial for obscenity. Hall herself, however, saw the book as a pioneer work and today it is recognised as a landmark work of gay fiction.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com. Description provided by Penguin Books.

Did you know?

Because of the book’s queer themes, Radclyffe Halle was put on trial for obscenity. She lost her case; the book was banned; and all copies were ordered to be destroyed. Still, The Well of Loneliness survives as one of the most important lesbian texts of the 20th century.

Fairest: A Memoir

by Meredith Talusan

Fairest is a memoir about a precocious boy with albinism, a “sun child” from a rural Philippine village, who would grow up to become a woman in America. Coping with the strain of parental neglect and the elusive promise of U.S. citizenship, Talusan found comfort from her devoted grandmother, a grounding force as she was treated by others with special preference or public curiosity. As an immigrant to the United States, Talusan came to be perceived as white, and further access to elite circles of privilege but required Talusan to navigate through the complex spheres of race, class, sexuality, and queerness. Questioning the boundaries of gender, Talusan realized she did not want to be confined to a prescribed role as a man, and transitioned to become a woman, despite the risk of losing a man she deeply loved. Throughout her journey, Talusan shares poignant and powerful episodes of desirability and love that will remind readers of works such as Call Me By Your Name and Giovanni’s Room.

Image and description courtesy of Penguin Books.

Passing

by Nella Larsen

Clare Kendry is living on the edge. Light-skinned, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a racist white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past after deciding to “pass” as a white woman. Clare’s childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, and is simultaneously allured and repelled by Clare’s risky decision to engage in racial masquerade for personal and societal gain. After frequenting African American-centric gatherings together in Harlem, Clare’s interest in Irene turns into a homoerotic longing for Irene’s black identity that she abandoned and can never embrace again, and she is forced to grapple with her decision to pass for white in a way that is both tragic and telling.

Image and description courtesy of Penguin Books.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning

by Cathy Park Hong

Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative—and its relentless and riveting pursuit of vital questions around family and friendship, art and politics, identity and individuality, will change the way you think about our world.

Image and description courtesy of Penguin Books.

Sister Outsider

by Audre Lorde

In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope. This commemorative edition includes a new foreword by Lorde-scholar and poet Cheryl Clarke, who celebrates the ways in which Lorde’s philosophies resonate more than twenty years after they were first published. These landmark writings are, in Lorde’s own words, a call to “never close our eyes to the terror, to the chaos which is Black which is creative which is female which is dark which is rejected which is messy which is . . . ”

Image and description courtesy of Penguin Books.


This blog post was created by Lila Rush-Hickey, Student Engagement Assistant for FSU Libraries. She is a third-year Literature, Media and Culture major at FSU.