Shhhhh!

When I arrived, there was an elderly man intently whacking the clicky keys on an old IBM Selectric typewriter.  A few feet away, a library volunteer slowly ran a vacuum cleaner, meticulously sucking up each piece of fiber on the already immaculately clean carpet.

The man on the typewriter finished up quickly enough and then wheeled it back to the Smithsonian. And the man with the vacuum moved on to another area of the library that didn't need vacuuming.

But then, a group of three mentally handicapped adults arrived with an escort; they all sat down two tables away from me. I mean no disrespect, but I will say that their behavior is like what I'd expect of my young son if I tried to sit him down in the adult section of the library. In other words, it's not what I think of as being library-like. It's LOUD.

Which brings me to my point.

When I was a kid, you went to the library for a quiet place to work or study. That doesn't seem to be a safe assumption any more.

The other day there was an article in our paper on this topic. The article focused on discouraging cell phone use in libraries, in particular, but it talked about how libraries have become more like community centers, and that at least one of our newer area libraries was designed with this in mind. These aren't the libraries of my youth, where the librarians went around shushing everyone (I'm sounding like an old lady, huh?). And I'm not talking about the children's room, where talking and laughing (and running) are to be expected.

I'm cool with not using my phone in the library. The other day, I had a business meeting by phone from my car, just outside a library.  It was no big deal to step outside.

Is there nowhere to go anymore, for a quiet place to work?

Where do you go?

Maybe I should just get myself some good earplugs.

(And yes, I'm touring the library circuit in upstate NY.)

Comments

[Lisa]

Our library here has a sign on the door to shut off cell phones. And I'm pretty sure the old librarian would hunt someone down and nail their butt to the wall if they tried to use it! LOL She's...well, mean.

[kristi]

How annoying. If you can't find quiet in a library, then where can you go? I found while going to grad school that the university library was still quiet. I used to love going in there to read, and quite a few students actually slept in there!

[InterstellarLass]

Nothing is what it used to be. It's not isolated to libraries. It's all over. And it's sad.

[Barbara]

I have to wait till nothing is stirring, not even a mouse, to get some peace and quiet.

[Jody]

Our library also has a sign that says SHUT OFF CELL PHONES. Common curtesy has certainly fallen off the face of the earth. But so has common sense. Is nothing common anymore?!? :)

[nat]

I go to the library! It's still quieter than most places, even though the "library voice" seems to have become louder. I turn off my cell when I enter, just as I do for church. Why can't other people seem to get that idea, too??? I don't know. The whole culture seems to have become more rude.