A first-rate college library with a comfortable campus around it is a fine milieu for a writer. There is, of course, the problem of educating the young. I remember how once, between terms, not at Cornell, a student brought a transistor set with him into the reading room. He managed to state that one, he was playing "classical" music; that two, he was doing it "softly"; and that three, "there were not many readers around in summer." I was there, a one-man multitude.
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A top-notch college library, coupled with a pleasant campus, creates an ideal environment for a writer. However, this setting also faces challenges in educating students. An anecdote illustrates this issue; a student once brought a transistor radio into a reading room during a quiet period. He argued that he was playing classical music softly and that the fewest readers were present in the summer.
The irony in this situation is highlighted by the fact that the narrator, despite being the only person in the room, felt like a "one-man multitude." This emphasizes the clash between personal freedom and the collective, often unacknowledged impact of one's actions in shared public spaces.
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