You said:
“I’m trying to understand the policies that the library has in place for food and beverage consumption and SOCIALIZING, aka loud overwhelming conversations. Unless I feel like being a bossy overbearing individual and constantly telling people to be quiet it is impossible to concentrate and get work done. Also, constantly I’m annoyed at dealing with crumbs in furniture or stains on counters, not to mention the potential for spilling and destroying expensive computers! At the moment I feel like a minority as it seems that everyone is violating what I used to understand to be common library behaviour. Please don’t tell me to put on headphones that doesn’t get to the root of the problem… what is the library for?”
Heather Berringer, Chief Librarian, responds:
“Dear Daniel:
I believe that the Library’s role is to support learning and research in many forms – not only quiet, individual study, but also the group learning experiences that form part of many classes. We try to provide spaces that range from “please be silent” to “please use your indoor voice” so that we can accommodate the needs of as many students as possible. I am not certain that these spaces have always been clearly identified. In the coming month we are planning to more explicitly identify “zones” within the Library so that visitors will be aware of the type of space they are working in; this “rezoning” will include an attempt to provide quieter computer use space in Room L111. If you prefer a quieter space and do not need a computer, I would suggest the main floor reading rooms or the second floor.
As to your comments about the food policy, it has been our experience that when we attempt to enforce a “no food or drink” policy in the building, we actually end up with far more mess and damage as people try to hide the food that they inevitably smuggle in. We’ve had far fewer problems of this sort since there has been a more relaxed approach. I have passed on your comments about general cleanliness to our Manager, Library Operations.”
