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Finals week is always a hectic time and finding a place to go study is the last thing on your mind. Luckily buzz has thrown together a list of the underappreciated places to study in CU for the troubled student. Most are accessible via bus or short walk and provide you with everything you need during this time of the year: Caffeine and space.

CU Libraries

When you’re sick of the same crowded campus libraries, the libraries in CU offer a nice alternative. The Urbana Free library, just a short walk from the edge of campus at 210 W Green St, offers spacious seating and a nice atmosphere to escape the finals madness while still managing to get something accomplished. Its been called “The Urbana Free and Wonderful Library” by Roger Ebert, so you know it must be great. Open from 9a.m. to 9p.m. Monday through Thursday, swing on by this place of learning if you’re feeling adventurous. On the flip side of CU rests another great library that many students don’t utilize. Located 200 W. Green St. in Champaign, the Champaign Public Library offers cozy seats and nice big tables in a modern atmosphere. Its laid back atmosphere and newly remolded interior, along with a coffee shop and Wi-Fi, makes the Champaign Public Library a great candidate as a getaway option for that packed finals schedule. It’s open from 9a.m.-9p.m. on weekdays, and both libraries are accessible from the MTD Green bus route.

Café Kopi

Kopi is a great coffee shop in the heart of downtown Champaign offering free Wi-Fi and great drinks; it is the ideal place to sneak in a few more chapters of that textbook you never picked up while still enjoying a nice hot beverage. It rests beyond the fast paced world of campus coffee shops while still managing to be close enough to be accessible to students. They’re open seven days a week until midnight so it's perfect for those students looking to burn the midnight oil. If Café Kopi's not quite your cup of tea, coffee or whatever caffeinated beverage it is you're using as a substitute for sleep, downtown Champaign offers quite a few pleasant venues that all offer the drinks, treats, outlets, and free Wi-Fi you need for your end of the year cram session.

ACES Library

Perhaps a controversial inclusion, but the ACES Library, more formally known as the Isaac Funk Family Library and located just off the South Quad, is one that doesn’t seem to get the respect it deserves. One of the newer facilities on campus, it offers nice tables and ultra comfortable seating. It seems to be overlooked by most and usually has smaller crowds than the Undergrad and Grangier draw during the last two weeks of the semester. Definitely a go-to campus destination when you just can’t seem to find any space at the other libraries. ACES also is a good group destination as it offers a lot of large tables that are ideal for spreading out to work on projects. While it may not be open 24/7 like the Undergrad, closing at 12a.m., the scenery of it alone can offer you some relief from the packed bookshelves of the undergrad.

University of Illinois Arboretum

A great place to study when the weather is friendly is the Arboretum. Its beautiful views and lush grass make a great place to lay down in the May sun and look over those notes from the cold early weeks of February that you’ve long since erased from your memory. So if the sun is shinning, scoot on down to the Arboretum! With gorgeous flower beds in bloom and several gardens to roam, there is no shortage of beauty to gaze upon while putting off opening that folder of lecture slides. Located at the intersection of Lincoln and Florida in Urbana, the Arboretum is open from sunrise to sunset.