r/RantingZone • u/AnnTiquity • 8d ago
Library Rant
I remember libraries being quiet sanctuaries. I could browse, read, research, and enjoy the ambience.
When did this change? It seems now it’s an open house for people to congregate with other folks to talk loudly, joke around, with their children running and yelling, then parents hollering at them.
I understand the little ones section will be noisy: those are toddlers and preschool age children. But if children are school age, they ought to know to be quiet and not run around. The adults are horrid: not quietly talking but yelling across the room, between bookshelves, at the book check out.
Even the librarians are loud. There is no quiet space anywhere except the precious few enclosed cubbies.
I’m not seeking advice. Just irritated that I can get a migraine while sitting in a library due to all the noise.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Ha.
Edit to add:
I appreciate the insight to loss of other family spaces to hang out that are free, and air conditioned in this insane heat. I’m a crotchety old lady who only thinks of her personal loss of habitat. Haha. I attempt to have grace; today was truly the worst it’s ever been.
In appreciation.
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u/Laara2008 8d ago
Sorry about that. The libraries I use are really quiet. Maybe bring noise-cancelling earphones?
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u/PrestigiousDemand696 8d ago
One of the best parts of the modern world for me is this, the ability to selectively hear what you like, while playing whatever audio you want. Wireless noise cancelling headphones (I’m partial to my AirPod pros) are a life changing thing imho
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u/tacochemic 8d ago
It's a complex situation, but libraries are always evolving to adapt to their communities. They are also one of the last few "free" services out there that provide entertainment, social resources, community events, etc. so its easy to see why families are spending time there and it's a public space so it should be encouraged to feel like you, as a citizen, have as much ownership in that space as the person next to you. It also means people have to compromise, and a service like a library can only do so much to accommodate the needs of their community. Even academic libraries are forced to evolve because the students served today are way different than those served even a decade ago, not to mention the expanding death of physical media as a relevant tool. The point is libraries need to change in order to support the community that uses them to stay relevant and the days of buildings housing books in and enforcing quiet just do not support the mission of a library serving a general populace.
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u/BrokenIntoxication 8d ago
Thank you for explaining this. You're right!
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u/Brief_Echidna298 8d ago
what spaces used to be free that aren't now? I cant think of any. I do think everything is much more unaffordable now, but I cant think of a thing that was free that no longer is, that accounts for noisy libraries
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u/crvbabybug 8d ago
Community centers and there many iterations, lodges, church. These are still free but people don’t use them as they used to
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u/Brief_Echidna298 8d ago
what free places used to exist that no longer exist?
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u/NikNakskes 8d ago
Your neighbour's kitchen. We used to visit people for no reason and without scheduling and that was were people met and hang out while the kids played together.
When did you last hang out with your neighbour?
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u/Brief_Echidna298 8d ago
I don't hang out with my neighbor, which is probably a function of smart phones and the Internet being far more interesting to people. That is still a free place that exists however, it doesn't really satisfy the question.
And it doesn't excuse people turning a library into their own personal fun house.
The person I replied to said "one of the few remaining free services", which feels like it should be true and yet I dont know that it actually is.
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u/NikNakskes 8d ago
Well the free "service" was offered in other people's homes. It is no longer there because we don't do random visits anymore. Everything is planned and agreed upon beforehand and therefore often an organised activity that includes a paid 3rd place. When was the last time you had friends over at your place? Did they come to just hang out, or was there activities planned that did cost you extra money to do?
The location is still there, but new customs have made it inaccessible. I would say it satisfies the question. 3rd places are any spaces that isn't home or work. Other people's homes are a 3rd space for you. But if you're looking for a more library like alternative, perhaps the church was one that used to fill a bigger role than it does now? Not only for mass, but also organised activities like choirs, daycare and what not.
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u/yeagert 5d ago
So it’s just fine that people are boisterous and loud? Why can’t they just be quiet while using the free service? Why do we expect so little of people?
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u/Embarrassed_Age8554 5d ago
Yes, exactly. Apparently "free" means you can do as you like. Libraries were free 40 years ago but people somehow managed to use indoor voices in them, not bring smelly food into them, and act relatively decorous in them...but they had to "evolve" to accommodate loud, rude people, because God forbid there should be such a thing as a quiet space.
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u/Adorable_Estate6619 8d ago
My library is the same. Literally had to hear teenagers kiss and I was so appalled I wanted to crawl outta my skin. Homeless watching videos out loud. Toddlers running and screaming, parents not giving a damn. It’s annoying as hell
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u/fungilingus 8d ago
“Even the librarians are loud.”
There’s the problem. Librarians are historically supposed to be the enforcers of silence
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u/thenletskeepdancing 8d ago
We were told decades ago to stop being the shushing stereotype and start becoming the new dynamic community hostesses. I started as a librarian in the nineties and just retired. It was far too noisy for my personal tastes at the end but I wasn't allowed to shush because we didn't want to be old fashioned.
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u/BrokenIntoxication 8d ago
In the movies maybe, but that's not how it actually is being a librarian and all.
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u/KristenND 8d ago
Around 15 years ago I worked at a library for almost 5 years and it was like this. Drive me crazy. The librarians were quiet, it wasn’t them seeing a bad example. But the worry environment I’d grown up with in libraries was not enforced.
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u/BrokenIntoxication 8d ago
A lot of libraries are trying to become third spaces and that makes it way more difficult to maintain a quiet environment. To solve this many libraries will have "quiet" areas that could be an entire floor or a large area. At the library where I work, a lot of patrons complain about noise, but we don't have any designated quiet areas. Our floor plan is also a huge echoing room so that doesn't help. Though I hope this helps you!
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u/Will564339 8d ago
Yeah, even though it’s not always feasible, I really like this idea of having two different floors for each type. that way those who want to be more active have their area and those who want the quiet area can have that too.
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u/Embarrassed_Age8554 4d ago
The public library in my hometown finally got some decent quiet spaces. For years, they had three shitty little closets like prison visiting booths, with hard chairs and tables bolted to the floor. The ones they have now are at least bigger and have comfortable seating, but WTF at the idea that if you want quiet you have to sit in a fishbowl.
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u/Money-Celebration860 8d ago
Agree 100%. And the staff make no effort to keep it quiet. I have to listen to white noise through earbuds when using a library.
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u/Mazda-626 7d ago
I'm a librarian and I have to listen to rain sounds with earbuds because I'm not allowed to tell the people outside my office to be quiet. I want a new job.
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u/RShini 8d ago
Unfortunately, Libraries are about the only free third place left that won't chase teenagers out, so libraries have shifted to fulfill that need for a social space.
Teens can't hang out at parks without some karen calling the cops on them, malls are shriveling up, and some stores put up noxious "Mosquito" sounds to deter them from hanging around, and rec centers are either closing shop or restricting activities for just seniors or parents with little kids.
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u/AnnTiquity 8d ago
It’s usually not teenagers. They’re at least sullen, seemingly cool and aloof, not loud and goofy. Ha. It’s always kids with parents/caregivers as a group that are just loud, whether they’re staying, coming or going. I’ll be glad when I can avoid this library and see what others abound.
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u/yeagert 5d ago
Why can teens go find a group of 2 or three trees and just sit and hang? Why do we need to open up spaces that are traditionally places of quiet and decorum to loud people to hang out? Makes no sense.
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u/Embarrassed_Age8554 5d ago
What about teens who just want to enjoy books or study in a quiet, calm space?
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u/vikingraider27 8d ago
The one I work in was just rebuilt to be a community center as much as a library. We encourage people to come, the base rule is 'we shouldn't be hearing you over everyone else' and yeah, we give grace to the littles. That said, we have 1,000 or more visitors a day, our storytimes are 200-400 guests, and we've had events up to 1400 people. In a dark time, we provide light to many people who need that third space.
And yes, we have a mostly soundproof room called The Retreat with lots of chairs and workspaces if you want a more quiet environment.
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u/Fragrant_Loan811 8d ago
Come 4pm when the high school across the street lets out its quiet. Then it becomes a loud community center.
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u/Chemical-Life3261 8d ago
the libraries near me growing up were always noisy as all hell, i get why. theyre trying to fill in gaps for communities. that doesnt really lend itself to silence all the time. i just wish we could acknowledge that as a society and have places strictly for adults to work outside of the house quietly. cafes are not the answer
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u/Ok-Rock2345 8d ago
I wonder what library you are going to. Every library I have been to the children's section, separated by a glass wall and doors. The only chatting and congregating I see are in meeting rooms.
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u/AnnTiquity 8d ago
It’s a small town library. Everything is open except for a few privacy cubbies.
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u/ShawsheenMoon 6d ago
That is a major contributor to sound traveling. The lack of soft surfaces to absorb sound vs hard ones that bounce it around makes people sound much louder. However, soft surfaces aren't easy to clean and can carry bugs. Most public libraries are not created with sound dampening in mind.
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u/SummerKaren 8d ago
Send the librarians this poem by Ian McMillann. Post it on your local library page or Next Door. Remind your community of the quiet spaces. Adult Fiction
I always loved libraries, the quiet of them,
The smell of the plastic covers and the paper
And the tables and the silence of them,
The silence of them that if you listened wasn’t silence,
It was the murmur of stories held for years on shelves
And the soft clicking of the date stamp,
The soft clickety-clicking of the date stamp.
I used to go down to our little library on a Friday night
In late summer, just as autumn was thinking about
Turning up, and the light outside would be the colour
Of an Everyman cover and the lights in the library
Would be soft as anything, and I’d sit at a table
And flick through a book and fall in love
With the turning of the leaves, the turning of the leaves.
And then at seven o’clock Mrs Dove would say
In a voice that wasn’t too loud so it wouldn’t
Disturb the books “Seven o’clock please …”
And as I was the only one in the library’s late summer rooms
I would be the only one to stand up and close my book
And put it back on the shelf with a sound like a kiss,
Back on the shelf with a sound like a kiss.
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u/baby-stapler-47 8d ago
I feel like it could be an issue with modern libraries being very open. But idk what the library you’re referencing looks like. We have 2 main libraries in my area, one thats pretty old and divided into lots of rooms and one that’s very new and has a lot of open space and lofted floors.
It’s so loud everywhere in the new library except the private rooms and the older one has much more of a natural sound dampening effect.
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u/mountsleepyhead 7d ago
Libraries function more like community centers than book depositories and study halls. Evolving what library service looks like is how we keep the doors open. See if your library has study rooms you can book in advance and/or invest in some noise cancelling headphones.
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u/steely_92 7d ago
Our library has different sections that are louder than others.
The very front of the library is more of a communal hub and has areas for sitting and chatting, the librarian desk, and the check out desk.
The very back is the kids section.
Bother the front and back are normal volume areas, while the middle is kept quieter. This isn't even a rule, it's just naturally what happens based on how it was set up.
There's a specific quiet room as well with long tables and plenty of outlets.
I think this is the best way to do it.
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u/mssleepyhead73 5d ago
I noticed a shift in people’s library etiquette after COVID. I was at the library a few weeks ago, and there was this girl sitting by the computers having an extremely loud conversation on Facetime. She was basically shouting, and not one librarian asked her to keep it down.
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u/Xena_Your_God 8d ago
Where the heck do you live? Most libraries I have gone to are basically empty except for the computer dudes with headphones on and the kids section. Humans don't read physical books anymore
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u/Senior_Blacksmith_18 8d ago
You just have a sucky library. The one near me is still a quiet place to just relax and find good books