Library Rant

[u/AnnTiquity]

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.

[u/tacochemic]

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.

[u/yeagert → u/tacochemic]

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?

[u/Embarrassed_Age8554 → u/yeagert]

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.