Some of it is that old fashioned, and somewhat outdated, library as a place thing. I am not, and have never been, a proponent of absolute silence in a library. I'm just not a quiet person and from teaching first grade I can surely make my voice heard. I like to tell myself I don't have a big mouth, my voice just carries. But I digress. Back to the library, there need to be quiet areas, but in my opinion to keep libraries vibrant, facilitating group use and a sense of welcome, noise is a given. In the resource center, we often warn students it is not a quiet area (I don't say shhh) and recommend study rooms for those who desire the space. But today, it's the other working folks making me nuts. A student worker has spent a good portion of the morning yakking on her cell phone. The circ person is listening to espn radio at the desk and its loud enough I can hear the play-by-play. If I can hear it across the room, it's too loud. I'm a bit of persona non grata for asking it be turned down. In fairness, I have the radio playing on my computer, but when I walk away from my area it can not be heard.
Guess I'll live with being a crank. I just checked out several new recreational novel, and a new book(s) to read always makes me happy. I found, The Day Trade by Stephen Frey, It Might Have Been what He Said, by Eden Collinsworth, Ricochet by Sandra Brown, and You've Got to Read this Book, by various authors. It will be time for lunch soon and I'm thinking chicken salad.
Tags: Academic library, Working Saturday, Library noise, Cell phone etiquette
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