A Hot Date with John Rylands

He’s tall, he’s dark (and very dusty), he’s handsome(ly stocked with books), and it seems that our very own JRUL is worth the effort (and a date).  We’ve all seen, and probably taken part in, the veritable catwalk that is John Ryland’s library of a weekday afternoon. Something happens when you go up that tiny escalator and no I’m not talking about being transported straight back to the 80s by the decor.

From flashing brands on Blue Floor 3, haute couture in the computer clusters, wearing something out-there in orange, to looking poised and polished in purple; it seems that one doesn’t just wear jim jams to JR. But when yet another dapper denizen of the library strolls past, one starts to wonder why. Could it be a Hottie In The Library hangover? We all remember the days of girls dolling up just to do a book return and guys strutting about on the off chance they might be papped on their way to the printer.

But Manchester’s answer to Gossip Girl doesn’t return until Semester 2 and so it seems we’ll have to look elsewhere to explain the fashion phenomenon that is JRUL. There are plenty of cynics that will say dressing up for a long session of essay slog is pointless but I don’t know about you but after staring at a computer screen for hours and making the unwelcome discovery that 3,000 words won’t write themselves, a little sartorial effort is sure to brighten up anyone’s 3am meltdown. So why not make the most of dear old John while the Learning Commons is closed, you’ll find he’s got some hidden (and rather dapper) depths.