Maroon Opinions

Noise in the Stacks

DON'T schedule loud work in the bookstacks during finals week.

Unfortunately we have a couple of noise-making projects in the stacks this week, including plumbing work on the B-Level and the ongoing collection move. Although we've asked the workers to be quiet (and would appreciate any notice of loud talking, radio playing etc.), a certain amount of noise from equipment is inevitable.

Noise on the Second Floor

Please enforce the noise level of Quiet Zones. Especially the second floor's west wing during late hours are quite noisy with large groups. They are very disturbing to those who are studying. Thank you.

Unfortunately during late evenings (after 5pm) we have a limited number of staff on duty, and none on the second floor. However, I've found that people respond quite well to a polite request to be quiet; I would encourage you to make such a request of nearby patrons if they are being noisy.

If you find patrons ignoring your request, please feel free to contact the Circulation supervisor on the first floor and inform him/her of the problem.

Those Undergrads...

It would be nice if undergrads were not allowed into the library, or at least not during the month before finals. The undergrads are loud and take up study space.

Before the Suggestions Office gets stormed by irate "Reg Rats,"  we note that the comment is strangely ambigious about a specific venue, and subsequent attempts to glean further information went unanswered.

In any case, all locations of the University Library are open to College students.* While we admit that some locations focus on serving a particular Division or School,  this University holds that research and scholarly inquiry occurs at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and often such work cuts across traditional disciplinary lines.

This being said, we find that a polite request to any noisy colleagues nearby (coupled with a reference to the appropriate Library zone) serves well regardless of academic status. If the patron refuses to stop making noise, feel free to involve a Library staff member.

 

*The D'Angelo Law Library has limited access to non-Law students during reading period and finals. See Law Access and Privileges for more details.

(Mechanical) Noise in Mansueto

There is consistently a high-pitched metallic noise in the Mansueto Library. It is very distracting and unpleasant. It would be very appreciated if the noise could be eradicated.

The Suggestions Office staff, when out and about in Mansueto, haven't noticed any high-pitched noise. However, it's been objectively verified that our hearing is disappearing (all that loud rock we listened to as kids), so we looked for a second, third, and fourth opinions.

Unfortunately no consensus emerged. Some colleagues say there's no sound in Mansueto at all. Others admit to hearing something, but chalk it up to the air handlers. So for now, we're going with "random airflow noise."

If you're hearing something different, let us know -- the dome is supposed to be a quiet zone, and we're not giving our equipment any freebies. Why, just the other day we had to crack down on a  robot [crane] with an uncovered coffee mug. You wouldn't believe what they try and get away with...

Noise and Mansueto

Mansueto is so noisy! The cleaners have been talking on their cell phones, and two visitors have also talked on their cell phones. Some visitors in the library are talking at tables, and I can hear them on the other side of the reading room. Could you please enforce the quiet policy in the reading room more strictly?

We'll speak to the cleaning folks about talking on their cell phones.

Several times the Library staff have asked egregious offenders to quiet down or step outside. You'll also see "table tents" reminding users of the quiet zone policy appearing in the next day or two.

This being said, we rely on you and other patrons to help us maintain (more accurately, create!) the "culture of quiet" we hope becomes the norm for Mansueto. If someone near you is talking, please don't hesitate to ask them to quiet down. If they refuse to respond, please tell the staff at the circulation desk.

Noise in the Reg

I have just read the Maroon Opinions comments concerning noise on the first floor of JRL. I'd like to point out that there are currently no signs in the carpeted computer area indicating that it is a quiet space and that cellphone use is not permitted. There use to be signs--and they went a long way toward cutting down disruptive cellphone conversations in one of the few areas where students can work on their papers. It is hard to convince someone--a person who is already inconsiderate enough to speak at length when others are trying to work in peace--that this is a quiet space when one has to show them a website to prove it.

There is a lot of hedging when it comes to the amount of noise allowed in the library. Speaking in the uncarpeted lobby is one thing--as is discussing with the librarians at the reference desk. Everywhere else is study space. There are already plenty of rooms in the library designated for group study--as well as other places on campus.

Ideally librarians and other employees (shelvers etc.) would be more proactive in keeping the noise level in check. It doesn't take much for a shelver on the fourth floor to ask someone to keep it down as s/he is passing by with a cart. And it would go a long way to improving the atmosphere, I think. The reference librarians on the first floor could also be more attentive to what is going on. I recognize that they have a lot on their plate--but this should be one of those things on that plate.

The signs have disappeared briefly because they've been undergoing a makeover -- we hope to put up the new versions soon, which will designate formal zones ("quiet zone" or "collaborative zone"). Hopefully this will make it easier to remind people they are in a quiet zone -- or even alert them to this fact and cause them to seek collaborative space elsewhere.

Not all spaces will be explicitly designated "quiet" or "collaborative," including the first floor of the Reg. Although in the past we've distinguished between the terrazzo lobby and the carpeted area, in practice this division has been hard to maintain because the first floor is basically one large space. There is a necessary amount of noise that takes place at the reference desk, circulation desk, and entry control -- not to mention the cell phone use -- but we are reluctant (at present) to designate the entire floor as a collaborative space.

Once the zones have been established, Library staff will also be more proactive in encouraging appropriate behavior. (By "staff" we specifically mean the full-time staff; we've refrained from asking students to shoulder this responsibility because of the social dynamics involved -- having to shush someone who is a classmate, much less someone who might be their TA or instructor could be awkward.)

This being said, maintaining a scholarly environment is a shared responsibility between patrons and staff. Since you've read the previous posts on noise I apologize if this seems repetitive, but active and vigorous patron involvement is the key to maintaining a successful quiet zone -- especially during evenings and weekends, when there are very few staff in the Reg and other campus libraries. However, if you've asked someone to quiet down, put away their food, etc. and the other patron isn't cooperating, don't hesitate to involve Library staff.

Babies in the Library?

Could you not let people bring their babies into the library? It's the end of the quarter and everyone is busy studying and writing. We don't need crying babies.

Rest assured that the parent(s) are probably just as disturbed as you at their child's crying. (Probably more if you think of the crying solely as inappropriate noise.)

If the parent appears inattentive, feel free to gently ask them to take their infant elsewhere until he/she settles down. Feel free to take the matter to Library staff, like any other noise disturbance, if the baby's parents refuse your request.

That being said, the Suggestion Office's admittedly limited experience is that student/faculty parents bring babies to the Reg (or other campus libraries) out of necessity, not choice. In these situations, they'd appreciate your indulgence.

UPDATE: An anonymous poster suggests creative measures. Might not work for infants, though when they're a little older...

Noise in Crerar

I often study in Crerar. It would be nice if there was a better identification of the noise level allowed on each floor or in each area. I often have to ask students to stop their conversations while studying on the second or third floor. I feel bad having to be "that person," but I go to the library to work in a quiet space. If students were better informed of the noise level expected of them, we may avoid such problems.

[During recent days in the Suggestions Office, we feel as if we were living during the fall of Rome. If Crerar is now too noisy, it's time to admit the barbarians have taken over and head for Ireland.]

We rejoice that you are taking the initiative and asking people who are too noisy to quiet down. If they don't take kindly to your suggestion, please feel free to ask for help from Library staff.

We'll see if we can make the signs about noise more prominent, or otherwise call attention to the policy.

Noise on JRL First Floor

I am writing regarding a routine problem with the Regenstein library facilities, namely, that the first floor is always excessively noisy. I am wondering if anything can be done, for example, if the library personal could start asking people to be quiet or to go outside in the lobby. I have tried to ignore the noise or go elsewhere but the majority of the computers are one the first floor or A level, both of which are very noisy. There is no longer even a pretense of trying to speak quietly. People freely talk and laugh loudly and when I have asked them if the could speak more quietly they have not done so or even told me, well, you know, the first floor is kind of like the noisy floor. But I dont think this is acceptable. The only places on campus where one has a right to silence are the libraries. These are also the only places where there are computers, printers, and all the other work supplies we need. Please consider changing the policy regarding talking on the first floor, or consider enforcing it. Either way, I would like to know what the official understanding of what the first floor should be like is.

Thank you for your comment about noise on the first floor. Officially the policy is that the "first floor lobby" is a place where cell phone conversations are permitted. We admit "lobby" is an ambiguous term and could be interpreted as the carpeted area in front of the turnstiles (before one enters the Library proper), or the terrazzo floor behind the turnstiles but before the computers.

However, all other areas of the first floor -- and indeed the entire A-Level excepting the MacLab -- are officially designated as quiet space.

Now, before you judge the Office staff as completely off their rockers [the A-Level a quiet space?!?] we admit in practice that the first floor will always be somewhat noisy given people entering and exiting the Library, checking books out at Circulation, and asking questions at the Ask a Librarian desk. And it's become accepted campus culture that the A-Level is a "noise-friendly" area -- although on both floors we'd prefer people keep in mind they are still in a library. (The A-Level may be a pit, but it isn't The Pit. OK?)

You should always feel free to politely ask people to lower the voices or take their conversations elsewhere. If they look at you oddly or fail to respond, please refer the matter to Library staff.

Interestingly, the issue of noise also came up at a recent Library Student Resource Group meeting. One student representative suggested that, instead trying to make the first floor quieter, we instead deploy more computers in a quiet area of the Library, in essence creating a space where people could work on papers without distraction. If this would be of interest, please let us know in the comments.

Noise in the Library

Libraries are one of the very few, if not the only, quiet indoor places where one can fully absorb their mind in a book or idea. Everywhere else in the world talking is permitted; everywhere else eating is acceptable; everywhere else people can speak on cell phones. Therefore, since only the library facilitates and permits freedom from distraction to truly think and learn, we should have no reluctance to enforce the prohibition of these activities in libraries.

A proportion of people in UC libraries (students, employees, etc) seem either unaware of etiquette or unwilling to abide by etiquette. Noisy wrappers, answering cell phone calls and carrying on conversations over a cell phone in a supposedly hushed but actually perfectly audible and disruptive voice, conversing with friends and working in giggly groups, etc. Nearly every time I attempt to use a UC library I encounter a concentration-breaking irritant like this, and I frequently do not use the libraries because I cannot depend upon the libraries to provide the very silence and contemplative ambiance that they're intended to provide.

Solutions? I'm aware that it's slightly uptight to aspire to and impossible to succeed in regulating people's behavior so precisely, and I wouldn't even suggest that one try to eradicate talking and eating altogether.

I would suggest that some of the library employees actually walk around the library on occasion to enforce the rules. I grant that as a librarian I would probably not relish the role of hushing people. Nonetheless, I think it's important to do so, and I have never seen a UC librarian doing this. Enforcement of traditional rules (no talking, no eating crinkly-wrapped foods) and newer rules (no answering cell phones, EVER) by librarians, at least for a short period of time or periodically, might be a simple and practical method to diminish non-library-like behavior.

The Library is somewhat caught in a cleft stick on these issues. There are users who strongly prefer a quiet atmosphere with no distractions, but we also hear frequently from users who complain about our lack of group study space.

This being said, our official policy is that eating, cell phone use, etc. are prohibited except in designated areas like the canteen adjacent to Ex Libris. (I'm using Reg-specific examples but the policy is generally the same across all libraries.)

Our first line of defense always has to be the surrounding patrons near the offender. While Library staff are willing to shush people or ask them to take their pizza elsewhere, it's often several minutes before we become aware of the problem. Further, in the evenings our staff presence in the Library is much reduced and we may not be able to respond in a timely fashion.

We also have been discussing zoning Library space into "quiet" and "social" areas (although this would mean some architectural remodeling, hence money, and thus unlikely to happen soon), as well as how to more vigorously publicize and enforce our own policies. We don't think we'll have roaming librarians on a perpetual basis, especially in the evenings, but it's an interesting idea to consider for temporary situations, perhaps to (re)establish a norm for a space.