A first time for everything

The difference between Friday and today is bigger than the passing of a weekend. Friday was the last day of classes and my floor of the library was abuzz with students finishing projects, papers, articles, and the final portfolio for the lab class facilitated by the resource center. Lines for Ellison machines (all 6 0f them) were five or more deep, surpassed only by the line at the printer as people waited "patiently" for print jobs. There was a lot of commiserating chatter amongst the patrons as the hours counted down on our fall term.

This morning you could have heard the proverbial pin drop in the library. Every computer, with the exception of one dead one, was taken. The printer was busy as students were spread out on every available surface working diligently on final papers and projects. But the quiet was almost surreal. No cell phones were ringing, no music was playing, and there was no chatter. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. In fact, the only "noise" came from those of us working in the resource center.

A student came up and asked if he could shut the door. Wow! The resource center door has not been shut once in the six years I've worked. He was too polite to ask us to be quiet, but made his point none the less. It freaked my student workers. They looked at me, puzzled by the request. I told him to go ahead (he did). Then told the girls to open it again after the two chatterboxes (myself and another worker) left for the afternoon. Guess there's a first time for everything after all.

It was kind of humbling to realize the noisiest person in the library was me.

Tags: Academic Libraries, Resource centers, Finals week, Library noise