Unexpected Visitor Surprises Law School Library Students

When William C. Pate '86 awoke from a reading period nap in Langdell Law Library Saturday night, he found an unexpected visitor hovering over him.

It wasn't a night watchman, nor a librarian, but instead, a 12-inch, wing-flapping bat.

"The first time I saw it it scared the hell out of me," he said. "Everybody else, though, acted like there was nothing wrong."

Though no one is certain how long the bat has lurked in Langdell or how it arrived there, the winged creature has become something of a legend among law students and library employees.

Prior to Christmas vacation, a bat made a fluttering afternoon appearance in the Langdell Reading Room, before a Buildings and Grounds employee was summoned with a broom. Saturday evening, a bat once again descended upon defenseless students for approximately one hour before disappearing anonymously into the rafters.

"I didn't know it was a bat at first," said Jess I. Parks '84, an employee at the circulation desk, adding that "it looked pretty pathetic just going back and forth."

Though relatively few undergraduates frequent the alcoves of Langdell during the course of the semester, Parks said that many find it a welcome deviation from the monotony of Lamont, Widener and Hilles. He added that Saturday night was the first time since he began working at Langdell in September that he observed the bat in flight.

Catherine M. Whitehead, a second-year law student, claims that she has heard rumors of bats secretly inhabiting the stacks. However, for Kevin A. Bove, circulation supervisor at Langdell, Saturday night was his first encounter with a bat.

"It probably came in through the stacks," he said, adding that the library has yet to establish a regular procedure for dealing with such unannounced visitors.

While one second-year law student who asked not to be identified said she found the bat's presence "disgusting," another third-year student demanded to know its LSAT scores.