Upon entering the “library,” as it’s labeled, the room felt fairly small and unused. With its darkened, silent atmosphere, the Kimbo/Wilbur browsing room feels like a liminal space, similar to a gas station at night or an abandoned mall - a place where time doesn’t seem to exist and where dreams perish.ĭorsey’s browsing room was quite the upgrade from Kimbo/Wilbur (although that is an admittedly low bar). “Someone has died in here,” I scrawled in my notes as I hurried out. Everyone talks about how the Toll or Browning or Clark browsing rooms are haunted, but the Kimbo/ Wilbur one has an even eerier vibe. The yellow-ish fluorescent lights only make the room feel even more inhospitable. Unlike any of the other browsing rooms, the windows have a tint placed over them, making the room feel dark and uninviting. The furniture was inexplicably purple, the art deco mirror and fireplace felt too grand and yet not grand enough, the bookshelves scant, the painting of Kimberly herself seemed to be staring into my soul. While the entire hall felt like an old recreation center or hotel, I was still taken aback to find the browsing room itself had all the charm of an unused hotel library. Time seemed to fade away as I circled the building, trying to locate the browsing room and get out as soon as possible. A deep silence permeated the building, and there was an eerie lack of other students in the hall. Although it was a sunny day (side note: Southern California and climate change work in weird, weird ways), upon entering Kimberly, the interior was almost completely dark save for fluorescent hall lights. Having only been to the Wilbur kitchen, I didn’t know what to expect when entering the hall from the back door facing Tiernan. Ok, I know this is technically a browsing room ranking (and not a residence hall one), but it’s crucial that I set the scene with my Kimbo/ Wilbur experience to explain why I ranked it last. As follows, here is the definitive ranking of every single browsing room Scripps College has to offer. But history aside, what exactly are the vibes of each browsing room? On a sunny (and sweaty) afternoon, I explored every residence hall’s browsing room to answer that very question. These study rooms are part of what makes Scripps so unique, with photos documenting their legacy and word-of-mouth documenting the tales of the hauntings that (allegedly) took place in their hallowed halls. Located in every residential hall, Scripps’ browsing rooms are part of the campus’ history and an essential portion of the school’s tour.
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