by reneeschaferhorton on Nov.04, 2009, under Life
I LOVE LIBRARIES!
I didn’t realize my post about loud libraries would elicit such fervent comments. Ergo, I think I need to offer a clarification or two, the first of which is I LOVE LIBRARIES! OK, and the rest:
#1. I’m normally not so cranky when I write a post and so my tone was, well, cranky. When you write about libraries, you shouldn’t be cranky because they are great institutions run by great people who have a love of the printed word. (Let us all give homage to words on paper even if the whole world is headed toward reading on iPhones.)
#2. I wasn’t picking on the Oro Valley library, I just happened to be there that day. I regularly visit the Nanini Library and the Joel Valdez Main Library as well, with an occasional jaunt to the Woods Memorial Branch Library and the cell phone chatting is present in all of them. I’ve mentioned noise to librarians before at those various branches, which is how I learned about the libraries as community center model. And most days, it doesn’t bother me, really. Yesterday was just one too many cell phone chatters.
#3. I am not an ogre who thinks there should be absolute silence in libraries, or stern librarians getting angry with library patrons, although it would be easy to think I believe those things from yesterday’s (cranky) post. I recognize that libraries have to be more welcoming than some might have found them in the past. Just the fact that every city library I visit is JAM-PACKED most days is evidence that libraries are doing things the right way.
#4. I do, however, mourn the loss of manners on the part of library patrons, especially, like I said, the people who should know better. You might expect teens to chat away oblivious to those around them; I was surprised to see it happening with more mature folks. I have no problem with small children running squealing through the library in joy; I love seeing that. And tutoring is wonderful (and have done it myself), even if it is in a louder voice; anything to help kids is to be praised and I was a dweeb to criticize (I was cranky!) But talking on cell phones at length in full voice or not turning your phone ringer to silent? That seems impossibly rude and that’s really what pushed my cranky button yesterday.
All that said, perhaps the people talking on the cell phones yesterday do not have access to computers in their home. Perhaps they have to come to the library to conduct business by phone because they need both an Internet connection and a phone. Perhaps they lost their jobs and are trying to remake their lives and have to use the library as their office (this is reportedly happening across the nation) and they can’t whisper on the phone because whomever is on the line would then know that they aren’t in an office.
In other words, there might be plenty of reasons besides rudeness that people talk on their cell phones in what used to be a semi-silent space. I should have considered that before posting — instead of letting my cranky-self rule the day.
10 Comments for this entry
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November 4th, 2009 on 5:02 pm
Renee…
I think you’re being far too apologetic. There is no reason to chatter on a cell phone in a public library. People can put their phones on “vibrate” and step outside, or to a restroom, to check on the importance of a call.
Sometimes “cranky” is just fine.
November 4th, 2009 on 5:21 pm
I agree with “Dataport, you Renee are being too apologetic. I don’t think most people appreciate cell phones ringing and being answered in the county libraries.
November 4th, 2009 on 5:49 pm
Me too, Renee. I thought it was a very fair perspective, truth be told, and calls attention to a growing issue. Similar example: cell phones in church. I have seen more than a few teens texting to friends while at Mass. This is an issue in more places than just the library, and I’m afraid if we keep going with this, there will be no place we can go in the future for peace and solitude, and that IS a travesty and worth getting a little cranky over, in my opinion. It’s very important that we quiet ourselves from time to time, and the place for doing that are getting fewer. So, there is a larger issue at stake, methinks. This was a good place to start.
November 4th, 2009 on 6:14 pm
If you want noise, try the UA library. It is usually quieter in the Student Union. Silence is golden. You are right.
November 4th, 2009 on 6:28 pm
Thanks for the comments, peeps, but I think I could have made my point without being so cranky about it. I really do try to understand the others’ POV, walk in their shoes, all that stuff, before I write. I could have made the point that people are being rude talking on cell phones in libraries without being quite so nasty about it. Ted – the UA library is noisy? I have heard its really quiet. And Roxanne – you’re right there is a larger issue at stake. With teens texting in church, that’s a parenting issue. With people answering cell phones (in church, libraries, banks), it is a rude issue I’m guessing. My favorite sign in is one of my favorite coffee places in Tucson – Epic Cafe. By the cash register it says: “If you are on the phone, you will be ignored.”
November 5th, 2009 on 8:32 am
Perhaps you should have voiced your complaint directly to the library staff on Tuesday evening since you knew the staff that were working that evening. Was it easier to voice your complaint in your blog then to ask a friend to shush the customer on the phone? Find a quiet corner in the library — there are many if you look around as many of the library customers in the Oro Valley library do.
November 4th, 2009 on 10:11 pm
Some people can’t handle the truth. I like what you said. Somehow we need to instill respect, courtesy, and politeness in our public spaces.
November 5th, 2009 on 6:37 am
Renee — No apologies needed. Your post yesterday was well written and conveyed, your love of our library system while listing some concerns your had.
I’ll echo Leftfield’s sentiment, to an extent – a pox on cell phones, some of the time.
: )
November 5th, 2009 on 7:36 am
Cell phones…I remember when we got our daughter her first cell phone. Initially, we signed her up for 1000 free text messages every month thinking, “that should be more than enough. That’s over thrity messages a day. How many text messages can one person send in a month?” Little did we know.
Renee, If you didn’t care about libraries, you wouldn’t care about how people behave inside them.
November 5th, 2009 on 7:37 am
WRONG- libraries are a RETREAT for contemplation, study, research, etc. People are increasingly loud, rude, and declasse. Cell phones should be banned, and talking should be in a whisper. As for the souls looking for work, they especially need a calm, peaceful environment. The Woods branch resembles a bar room. They also allow food and drink in there? Sad state of affairs that I can’t simply wander around the place and look at the shelves in peace, but fortunately they have the reserve system- all I do is go in, drop off my pile of stuff, and pick up my reserved pile of stuff, and out the door.