By Ali Siemens (Staff Writer) – Email
The library block during elementary school was always a treat. Filled with wonderment, the librarian would read you a story. You got to check out a book for a week, and sometimes your big buddies would even read with you. Sadly, those days are long gone, and now the library is used to research papers and study rather than scrambling to find the one Where’s Waldo book.
One of the rules of the library as a young child was absolute silence. I always found this annoying and a struggle as a child: I just wanted to talk to my friends! Nonetheless, it was engrained into me to respect the rules and shut the hell up when in the library!
Much like elementary school, our library also has what they call “The Quiet Zone.” Students are told to put their cell phones on vibrate, and keep their mouths shut. This rule does not translate as well as it did in elementary school because whenever I am studying there seems to be a conversation going on about the party bus heading to The Vanilla Room this weekend. (Note: Party bus? Really?)
It’s time we go over the library etiquette, because apparently students think that, because they are all-growed-up, they can be rude and disturb everyone else around them with their annoying phone calls to their bros, or their inane gossip about Marie and her controlling boyfriend.
The library is not a place for a social hang out. These students show up with their textbooks and pretend they are studying, but really they spend their time discussing their plans for getting wasted later that evening. You can have a social life while you are in university, this is not the issue, but does everyone who is actually trying to achieve a good GPA have to hear about your weekend of GTL?
Laughing is unacceptable! Period. Get out of the library. Your jokes are not funny. In fact, there is nothing funny about studying for the end of the semester. It’s hard, and it requires concentration.
And answering your phone? I understand that sometimes we all have important phone calls to make. The polite way of handling a situation like this is to answer, ask the caller to hold on for a minute, leave “The Quiet Zone,” and take the phone call outside. You aren’t studying while on the phone anyway, so please stop disturbing the people around you who are.
Now, I understand some talking is required when you are studying with a group, or trying to plan a presentation. However, this can be done in a polite way that doesn’t disrupt the other patrons using the library facilities. Talk at a whisper and stay on topic. It’s easier to tune out a study group talking about History than it is tuning out someone’s weekend sex-capade chronicles.
If you are a student who needs constant entertainment, and you find yourself turning the library – a cherished study space for diligent students – into a sitcom, reality TV show, or cheap version of Gossip Girl, it’s time to make some changes for the benefit of everyone else. I know it’s hard to stay focused and study. University is a tough place. However, if what you’re studying isn’t exciting enough, go back to your elementary school librarian and ask her or him to read you a book, because you clearly can’t do it on your own. Stop acting like children, and start respecting your fellow students. Some of us have work to do.
