h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I work in a library. Many of the old conventional rules of library etiquette are totally ignored these days, the most obvious of which is to speak softly. I honestly don't think that people know how they're supposed to behave in the library or anyplace else.

We've made signs to gently remind our patrons to speak softly, turn their cell phones off, and to dress appropriately. (They never read the signs, however.) We've had to create policies about things that should be taken for granted. No, you can't ride your scooter inside the building. No, you can't eat pizza and drink beer while you use library public access computers. Yes, you have to wear a shirt and shoes. No, you can't wear a thong bikini inside the library even if it is 100º outside. No, you can't have sex in the stacks. Yes, you do have to return the books you borrow. No, you can't play your boom box at full volume on the library steps. No, you can't rollerblade inside the building. No, you can't use the public restrooms to bathe and do your laundry. No, you can't leave your preschool children for us to babysit while you go do your shopping. No, you can't change your baby's diaper on the circulation counter. And we have actually had to create a rule forbidding people from bringing their motorcycles into the building. We already had one that dealt with bicycles.

" No, you can't have sex in the stacks."

You make it sound like people asked *permission*!



"Excuse me ma'am, we were both feeling a bit frisky, and the musty smell of those old volumes really does it for us both, so would you mind terribly if we... er... "

H.

You'd be amazed at some of the things we're asked, but so far no one has actually asked if they can nip around to the poetry section for a quickie. I've never caught anyone completely unclothed, but they've come mighty close.

Traditionally sworn in Latin: "I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, or to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document, or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library or kindle therein any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library."

The rules include not bringing in any sheep.

But actually they are quite general and haven't needed to be changed in years (a few tweaks over the centuries.)

As a student in Oxford I have actually signed a specific form to say that I 'shall not kindle a flame' in the Bodleian library! The bizarre thing was that that was the only rule they seemed particularly bothered about!

You had to swear to keep the other Bod rules too, which include taking no animals in and not wearing any clothes which might damage the fabric of the library.

Ændr, also at Oxford

I'll check with the board to see if they want to prohibit sheep. We did have a visiting ferret last summer. I didn't realize that ferrets smell so bad! Reminded me of some of our regulars. I wish I could write a rule requiring people to bathe and use deoderant before they come in.

id make a rule that libraries actually have to update stock.......

Excellent rule. In the US, most libraries are funded with local taxes. There is never enough money to buy as many materials as we would like. On the other hand, I've seen some prety frivolous expenditures.

Back to etiquette. We recently had a discussion among librarians about libraries being quiet. The question was why the person who wants the library to be silent should have more consideration over the person who wants to talk? Any thoughts?

Well it seems that historically a library has been a place for research and studying. So it seems logical that these places be kept quiet for those doing research or studying. Some people go to the library to study because it is quiet, maybe quieter than at their house.
The people who want to talk also have rights, but they should be courteous to the people who would like a little quiet.
It no longer seems reasonable to expect that the library be absolutely silent, but when it starts to sound like a large party you know the volume has gone up a little too much. I think moderation is key here. Many people dislike whispering but an equal number of people dislike hearing loud voices. If everyone is willing to compromise and use a quieter indoor voice then the people who want to talk may talk, and the people who want to study can do so productively.

Jen

In fact I'm one of the persons who like a bit of background conversation going on in a library. The total silence doesn't help me to concentrate because every now and then someone coughs or rustles with a page and these small sounds played against total silence are much more annoying then a steady background hum.

Nevertheless I understand people who like the silence and in the library at our technical university this does not seem to be such a problem. We have one floor where everyone is requested to be silent and on the floor above people can talk freely (in a moderate volume) and discuss things they read or study.

im deaf so peeps have to talk loud to me and i dont realise when im being loud.....

I can easily deal with conversations in a normal voice range. Screaming kids and parents screaming at the screaming kids is what really sends me into a snit. And one young mother brings in her 3 month old infant and then ignores it while she uses the internet. We've had to ask her to leave several times because of the baby's crying. And the computers, circulation equipment, copiers, fax machines - everything hums or whirs or beeps. I'm afraid the days of totally quiet libraries are gone. Even the heating and cooling systems make noise.

When the public adds cell phone calls and pagers and computer games it can get somewhat rowdy.

I agree with Marvinius Mortimer about the whole super-quiet thing. It's best to have enough background noise that things like turning a page aren't going to attract attention, becasue then they're distractin.
And Magoogy, as for being too loud....I find that with my friend Caren (she is also deaf) we both prefer when she speaks on the louder side so I can understand her more easily and she doesn't have to repeat herself. It might be troublesome in a library setting, but it is preferable for person to person communication.
Jen

Some of our students wear headphones and listen to music while studying.

I too work in a library (in a higher education institute) and we have problems with library ettiquette as well. We do not expect total silence except in one area decicated to silent study, but do restrict group study to particular rooms in the building. Yet students will look at us most incredulously if we dare to shush them. The mobile phone thing is a problem as well. We have signs everywhere telling people to turn them off, and yet they don't. The polite thing to do with mobiles in a library is to turn them to silent, and if you MUST answer it, run off to the loos or a group study area. It's no use running through the stacks with the muppet show theme beeping away from your pocket yelling 'Sorry, sorry' as you make your way out of the building.

Food and drink... People fail to understand that food and drink is a big no no in libraries, as these things can cause damage to stock and equipment. Most places will be prepared to turn a blind eye to a bottle of water or some 'sucky sweets', but even these are banned anywhere close to archive material (so places like the British Library are being quite reasonable here - woe betide you if your bottle of water drips onto the only copy of a text...). Cans of Coke, sandwiches, cups of soup and (on one memorable occasion) Chinese takeaway are not appreciated!

Wow, librarians are great at moaning, aren't we?

Well, if people would use some common sense and obey the rules, we wouldn't have to moan.

Do you have problems with computer usage? I had a woman today who thought it was the ucomputers should be able to figure it our or her.

Those we can persuade to use computers are fine! The entertaining ones are those who refuse to use the computer catalogue and expect us to know where every one of our 400,000 items is... We're good, but we're not that good.

" No, you can't have sex in the stacks."

There’s me thinking that our ing rugby team was an interesting sight. I work in a FE-college library and spend a lot of time battling with classes of roaming sports studies students who think if the library as their own personal common room.

Oh My! Do they confine themselves to the sports stacks?

My last post was unclear. A couple of lines must have vanished. So sorry. I was trying to say that we have patrons who think it's our fault that they can't get their e-mail messages...think that a pac should remember their passwords...and ask us why they haven't gotten replys to e-mails they send.

When we automated circulation it was a real shock to our older patrons to have to use the computers for the catagog. We kept the card file for 6 months then got rid of it. It took a lot of floor space that we desperately needed. We still have people who expect us to look things up for them. And a fair number who think I automatically know the title and location of every book in the building.

True story......a woman ( at least 40) came in a while back and wanted to know if we still had a book that she checked out when she was a kid. All she could tell me about it was that it was blue, or maybe green, and might have had a pig on the jacket, or it could have been a barn, but she thought it was about a farm or something. And she left po'd because I didn't know which book she was talkking about.