July 25, 2007
Good Librarian, Bad Librarian
One Saturday a few weeks ago, we went to the Rainier Beach library with Little Miss Seattlest. After picking out several books, we were making our way to the circulation desk when one of the librarians behind the public service desk spoke.
"Excuse me," she said. "Have you heard about the summer reading program?" We were, of course, familiar with the concept of a summer reading program, but we hadn't really thought about enrolling our 1.75-year-old. "Oh, it's for kids of all ages," the librarian said. "Some of the books are perfect for kids her age."
She handed us a tracking sheet and that night The Best Pet of All got LMS one tenth of the way to a free book. And we were thinking to ourselves, wow, we really do love our new library branch.
This past weekend, we were once again at the Rainier Beach library with Little Miss Seattlest. We were once again headed towards the circulation desk having stocked up on picture books. LMS was chatty. And another librarian leaned towards us.
"Excuse me," she said, and we got ready to say that we were already in the book club. "I'd like to remind you about library voices." Oh. No book club.
We apologized. We were mortified. We were a little confused, because we'd really just been talking at conversational volumes, which we've used in branches throughout the city without attracting shushes.
It's been ages and ages since we thought of the library -- any public library -- as a temple of silence. Not noisy, of course (except for the wide-open concrete sounding booth that is downtown), but a pleasant hubbub. A place to hammer out your campaign against vampires or an evil mayor.
Of course, Rainier Beach has apparently had problems with noisy youth recently. And lord knows our daughter's not a quiet little angel -- we've carried her outside posthaste when she made a racket and didn't quiet down.
But the library's Rules of Conduct don't specify church-at-midnight levels of quiet, just no "disruptive noises such as loud talking, screaming, or banging on computer keyboards." (Note to self: don't let LMS bang on computer keyboards.)
Perhaps the librarians at Rainier Beach could visit a few of the city's other branches -- North East, Fremont, University -- to see what their noise levels are like on the weekend. They manage a balance between sepulchral quiet and anarchy that we find most pleasing to our ears.
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I fight a constant battle in my library (in Centralia, WA) to make sure that some of the more traditional (and I use that word in the bad sense) librarians and library workers don't scare our large and boisterous population of teens and kids with unreasonable demands about noise. I find it's often a double standard - if two grown ups are talking loudly, it's more likely to be thought of as okay than if a child (with or without a parent) or a teen does it. I'm sorry you got unecessarily shushed!
Also, as a librarian, thanks for taking your child out on those occasions when she's not able to quiet down within a reasonable time frame. We appreciate that :)
Huge ups for the BTVS reference!
I am guessing that another patron complaining led to the "library voices" comment. Always a tough line to straddle to keep the complainers feeling like you are addressing noise issues that are bothering them and not being a shusher.
If you read the rest of the Rules of Conduct you get an idea of what librarians and library workers get to deal with all day, I am surprised she had the time or energy to shush a normal noisy kid.
If you ever want to let SPL know that a library staff member was especially helpful or especially unhelpful, you can always use their online feedback form:
http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_contact_feedback
And by the way, are you signed up for the Adult Summer Reading Program? Free $5 Starbucks Card if you read three books....
If you were told to be quiet what makes you think your volume was at "church-at-midnight levels of quiet"? I was just reading an article about library patrons who "fight, urinate on the bathroom floor, scrawl graffiti on the walls, talk back to librarians or refuse to leave when asked." You might ask what is up with those uptight squares, but perhaps you should examine your own behavior--even if it is only related to noise. You might actually be behaving like a jerk.
I don't think we were church-at-midnight quiet. I think at the time we where shushed we were using regular, conversational voices, which had previously been the norm at every Seattle branch library we attended.
I think church-at-midnight quiet is inappropriate for a public library (but necessary for a research or academic library). So is yelling-across-the-room noisy, for that matter.
And, frankly, I think little kids get more latitude than grownups. My daughter is excited to be at the library, and despite our best efforts, occasionally wants to yell and run. We shush her ourselves, and carry her outside for a minute if she won't quiet down.
All that said, I don't really have a beef with the librarian who shushed us. She was nice about it, and my embarrassment is my own problem. But I think the library itself is enforcing too low a volume, if our conversation was considered too loud.
And I hereby resolve never again to urinate on the bathroom floor. That definitely is being a jerk.