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How quiet should you have to be in the library?
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RandomAnthony
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Oct 14, 2010 06:25AM
How quiet should you have to be in the library? Should you turn off your cell in the library? Should there be some places where people can be a little louder? Discuss.
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Never mind turning off your cell. They should be confiscated at the front door.
Barb wrote: "I think if your phone is on vibrate it's ok, when a call comes in just take it outside."
Amen, Barb, amen.
Amen, Barb, amen.
i think the overall feel of our library (which had a grand re-opening sunday after a yr long renovation which is terrific) lends itself to conversation as long as it is kept at a considerate level. we really don't have the SHhhhhhhhh!! vibe going on there which i appreciate. i mean we really have less people studying or trying to concentrate there than we do people and families there to get books/materials or see an exhibit. i don't like to be shushed
actually, KD, ours is not free of charge. we have a $0.50 per item media check-out cost and the library is paid for by our taxes so.......
only for media items such as CD's, DVD's and audiobooks. GM and Chrysler refused to pay taxes owed to our county and we have had to make cut-backs everywhere. the library took a hit too
At this academic library, we have three floors. We encourage group study and are not about shushing you on the first two floors. Cell phones are ok too. 3rd is designated quiet and we enforce it.
King Dinösaur wrote: "As a professional library employee I say that YOU SHOULD SHUT THE FUCK UP THE INSTANT YOU SET FOOT INSIDE OUR ESTABLISHMENT THAT IS THERE FOR YOU TO USE FREE OF CHARGE YOU INCONSIDERATE MOTHERFUCKE..."Heh. May we whisper?
The libraries in my county all are laid out the same way; vast, wide open areas on a single floor with closed off rooms along the perimeter. Everyone generally keeps quiet, but the tables are spread out so that you can have quite conversations. I imagine the side rooms would be a good place for groups that need livelier interaction, but people are social creature and will talk when gathered. As long as they are respectful to others it shouldn't be a big deal. I keep my cell on vibrate when I'm in a library but I have no qualms answering it. I just speak softly and keep it brief.
i think there def needs to be an inside voice and an outside voice and maybe even a library/post office/dr office type of voice also. i am loud. not intentionally but my voice is loud. i think because i have two children with hearing disabilities but it also could be because our family is a bunch of gypsies. regardless, i try to keep my voice down and i do not answer/talk on my cell phone while in the library. i do however have many friends that work there and also see lots of friends there and have no prob holding a reasonable convo with them in the library
Our library seems to have formal and informal "zones" for this sort of thing...right by the circulation desk is a little louder, than, say, over near where the newspapers are kept. But I agree with KD and Kevin here, some people are sociable, to put it nicely, with the librarians, and talk real loud. I wonder...do library architects/designers address this? They must, I assume.Jackie took me to the huge Seattle public library, by the way. I can't imagine a less hospitable public space. There didn't seem to be anywhere comfortable in the entire building.
Please take cell phone conversations outside, thanks. Otherwise, yes, conversations held in reasonable tones are fine in common areas. Hee, I work at the Olympia Library, a busy downtown branch, with staff that are so used to noise that occasionally they are the ones getting hushed by the patrons.
Especially staff named Kelsey. Or Kelsie. :)
When selecting an architect for that (Seattle) project, they must have said, "let's find someone who can design the worst possible building for a library. Bonus points if they can make it ugly."
Agreed, Phil. I think that place is hideous!I hate snorers in the library, KD. HATE them!
I wake 'em up. Not allowed, it even says so in the posted rules.
Please tell me there is a sign that says "no snoring". I need photographic proof.
Also, how do you wake them up, Jackie? Do you get close to their ears and yell "BOO!" as loud as you can?
There's a sign, RA. I'm not there today, or I'd take a picture. But it's not the only rule listed on the sign. Basically, you can't disrupt the environment and bother your fellow library users. Which means:
no yelling,
no talking on a cell phone,
no snoring,
and no having bad enough personal hygiene that someone can't use the computer next to you because of how you smell. It's been an issue. We hand out sheets that say where people can get showers and other services.
I don't know that I trust your ability to decide if someone is smelly or not. You might have unreasonably high standards and lord over the library like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.
I found this in our intranet files, KD, but there's also a sign. I'll see if I can get a copy of that, too, no one is answering the phones at the moment.These rules don't address smell directly, but we had an EXTREMELY stinky guy at Olympia, and it was decided that if a patron smelled enough others around him or her were disturbed, that was not allowed:
Timberland Regional Library
Behavior Guidelines
2/2005
It is the policy of TRL to protect the right of each individual to full access to information and library services. The Board of Trustees has established the following behavior guidelines to protect the rights and safety of library patrons and staff and to preserve and protect the library’s materials, equipment, and property. The Board is committed to providing all patrons a pleasant library environment and to enabling staff to give quality service.
When you use the library please:
• Expect to receive fair, courteous, and equitable treatment.
• Ask our staff for help; they are here for you.
• Request physical accommodation or assistance when needed to allow you full use of library services.
• Give us your suggestions about how we can improve our services, collections, and facilities, and contact library staff with your concerns.
When you use the library we expect you to:
• Respect legally established policies and procedures for using library services.
Examples include but are not limited to: Computer Use Policy; Public Use of Meeting Rooms; Display Policy.
• Respect the rights and privacy of other library patrons and staff.
• Be responsible for the selection choices of your own minor children.
• Be responsible for the safety, well being and conduct of children or other dependents in your charge.
• Be careful with snacks and beverages brought into the library.
• Avoid behavior that disrupts the business of the library, or its use by others.
The following are prohibited:
• Engaging in activities prohibited by law.
Examples include but are not limited to: possessing, using or selling illegal drugs or alcoholic beverages; smoking, except in designated locations; using library computers to access, disseminate or print illegal materials; violation of copyright laws; theft; littering, including cigarette butts and chewing gum..
• Engaging in loud, disruptive, destructive, or unsafe activity or behavior that interferes with others’ use of the library, or with the ability of staff to perform their duties.
Examples include but are not limited to: disruptive use of cell phones, CD players or other electronic devices; blocking aisles or pathways; congregating in or around entrances and hallways; climbing, running, making loud noise, throwing things, pushing and shoving, spitting; misusing library property or restrooms; sleeping for long periods or in areas reserved for reading; encroachment into staff work areas or unauthorized use of staff resources.
• Engaging in threatening or harassing behavior, or causing physical harm. Harassing behavior is deliberate and/or repeated behavior that is not welcome or creates a hostile environment on library premises or in communication (telephone, e-mail, fax, written) with staff.
Examples include but are not limited to: using harassing, hostile or abusive language; making threatening comments or gestures; brandishing a weapon; stalking, constantly staring at or following another person; lewd behavior; showing pictures or other materials to another person without their permission; bullying.
• Engaging in sexual misconduct.
Examples include but are not limited to: public displays of affection; indecent exposure, masturbation, offensive touching, or sexual harassment of other library patrons or staff.
• Destroying, damaging or defacing library facilities, materials, equipment or software.
Examples include but are not limited to: writing in or damaging library materials; damaging or disrupting a computing system or altering its normal performance; adding, deleting, or modifying files and/or data belonging to the library or to other patrons; tampering with or defacing any library property.
• Bringing animals, other than assistance animals, into the library except as approved by authorized library staff.
• Soliciting or pan-handling on library property. Examples include but are not limited to: asking for donations; selling items.
• Gathering signatures on petitions or conducting surveys is not allowed inside the library. Contact the library manager for local rules addressing these activities.
• Camping on library grounds or in the library parking lot. Examples include but are not limited to: car camping; tents; bedrolls.
See:
RCW 27.12.290
TRL Board Policy 85-2
i want jackie to be the head librarian / grand pooba at our local library
very funny library story from last year:one of the library clerks while checking in and re-shelving returned books had some white powder substance fall out of one of the books. she freaked and dropped it. her immediate supervisor called the police/fire department who screamed up on full alert and evacuated the library in about the least sensitive way possible. they were wearing tyvek hazmat suits and the swat team (looking for a chance to don their gear) showed up and cordoned off the entire block. the library employees all lamenting about the possibility that they too had touched the white powder now officially dubbed as "anthrax" in the scare. after much hullabaloo, testing and such the white powder substance was deemed to be a very fine sand. when they investigated to see who had last checked the book out it was found to be a mrs. joray. the library director's wife who had taken the book on vacation and apparently had been reading in on a white sandy beach of some far away paradise much to the embarrassment and dismay of her husband who stood behind the yellow police caution tape across the street.
Our library has the coffee shop area before you go through the swinging bars. Most talkers congregate there.Once on the other side of the swinging bars, there's sort of a big general area that houses the checkout counters (and self-checkout machines), about 2/3 of the reference/catalog computers, the holds room and a lobbyish/pass through area with all the new book shelves. I always speak normally in that area because there are so many people running back and forth.
On the other side of this great room area, there's almost a distinction of where the actual "book" area begins and it gives me a visual cue to either whisper or be quiet altogether.
Coffee shop in the library? That would be nice.
yup, we have a cafe with soup, sandwiches, and Starbuck's coffee.
Mod
Are we talking about the Rem Koolhaas designed library? Really? Everyone hates it?
Mod
Mod
Lobstergirl wrote: "Are we talking about the Rem Koolhaas designed library? Really? Everyone hates it?"Yes. Yes. Yes.
It's truly hideous, LG. The colors inside are harsh, and the surfaces are stark and unwelcoming. It's like a deformed geodesic dome decorated by someone who's colorblind. Bad bad bad...
Mod
Tomato soup red, and radiation yellow. Not good together. And concrete, lots of concrete.But hey, you can hose the place out if you need to!
I think talking on a cell phone in the library is unacceptable. Everywhere else we go, we're subjected to listening to one-sided conversations we don't want to hear. The library should be the exception - a bastion of quiet and contemplation.
Phil wrote: "Coffee shop in the library? That would be nice."We also have a vending machine by the front door that has books in it - sort of a rapid checkout thing I guess.
It's so odd to me.
If you use your library card, how much is it to replace at your library? Ours used to be $1, and you got like, 3 of them (wallet, two keychain), but now it's like, 5 bucks for a wallet size.And I only go to my town's library during the summer and I ALWAYS lose my card. Ugh.
BunWat wrote: "That is odd! (The vending machine) How do they know which books to put into it?"I never have stopped to see what's inside, but I'm guessing it probably has new releases in there.
Mod
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Here it's $1.
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