Memory #2: Entering the Library for the First Time
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Sensory description
Walking into the library, I first noticed the quiet in the air, as if sounds were being absorbed by the shelves. The lighting felt slightly cold and the desks were a pale wood; when I rested my hands on the surface it felt smooth and cool. The soft rustling of paper, the faint hum of computers and gentle keyboard tapping all seemed carefully filtered.
What cannot be recorded as data
A check-in system can record that I entered the library, but it cannot record the sense that “this is not the kind of study space I grew up with”. It cannot capture how my body felt a little tense when I first sat down, and then slowly relaxed as I started to read. Those shifts in comfort and familiarity are part of the experience but remain invisible to institutional data.