The past few days, many students noticed CNN playing on a flashy new flat screen television near the entrance to Frost Library, in the recent acquisition nook. Though the television is there to stay, according to Head of Public Affairs for Frost Library Margaret Groesbeck, CNN will not be the featured show. Rather, Charles Longworth '51 donated the television to act as a digital poetry display, replacing the more modest display that used to be in the same space. According to Groesbeck, the television is meant to be a more dramatic, appealing display than the smaller screen that used to be in its stead. Longworth was once Chairman of the Board of Trustees and his wife, according to Groesbeck, is an Emily Dickinson Scholar. Goesbeck told The Amherst Student that the screen will project primarily works of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, two poets with strong ties to Amherst.

However, last night the screen was tuned to CNN for the California fires. Neither librarian on duty knew much about the television, except that it is meant for poetry. Late-night circulation assistant Maryanne Alos was puzzled to learn that the television was turned on to CNN and indicated that while she believes a television for news has a place in the library, she does not believe the current location is the right spot. "It's really captive if you're sitting there," she said. One student, Tom Grossi '11 said he wanted to study in that nook, but had to switch locations because he found the TV distracting.

Some feel the TV destroys the academic atmosphere of the space, while others like seeing the news. "I think it's good to see the news in the library," explained one passerby, Kira Stepanoff-Dargery '08, who elaborated that students should stay in touch with current events and that the television provides "a nice break from studying," a sentiment echoed by several others in the library.

T.J. Jackson '08 walked up the stairs from the Media Center and stopped short in his tracks, surprised to see the TV straight ahead. Once he digested what he saw, he said, "I think it's a good touch," adding that there are no other spots on campus for students to find streaming news. It remains to be seen if the library will expand the TV's functions beyond its stated purpose.