Einstein was a clever guy, who asked many clever questions regarding life, the universe and everything. What would it be like to ride alongside a light wave? What is the difference between the force of gravity and the force of acceleration? But for me, the first question I think of when someone mentions Einstein is: “Haben sie ihre hände gewaschen?”

Have you washed your hands? That question, along with a black-and-white portrait of Albert himself, looking stern and paternal, greets me each day when I leave the men’s bathroom in the Edna McConnell Clark Physical Sciences Library, on the second floor of Clark Hall of Science.

The Physical Sciences Library in Clark Hall — like Tower Café and the Knight Visual Resources Facility before it — has fallen prey to the University-wide budget cuts in reaction to the current financial crisis.

According to a recent announcement on the Cornell Library’s website, “Janet McCue [associate University librarian for teaching, research, outreach and learning services] met with PSL staff on Wednesday to let them know that their library will be closing at the end of 2009.”