A noisy library by Heloise
April 8, 2008
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/features/5680656.html
A noisy library can actually be a good thing
King Features Syndicate
I would like to tell the other side of the Library story. (The reader complained about noise, etc.) The library survives on funding, and funding is determined by how many people walk through the door. While I would love for our library to be an oasis of calm, we need people.
Do you think we enjoy being the neighborhood baby sitters? There is only so much we can do. Our library has rules on how old a child can be in order to be alone, but over that age we do nothing about it.
There simply aren’t enough workers to do everything that needs to be done and be baby sitters, too.
As for some of our loudness, we have several “little old ladies” who are hard of hearing. They help support us financially and are friendly to us personally. As for the person whose old library was always “as quiet as a deserted church,” I would just have to refer to the word “deserted.” That is what we try to avoid at all costs. We want people to use what we offer.
My suggestion to some of the die-hard library goers is to volunteer to help with kids programs and other necessary projects.
A LIBRARIAN, via e-mail
Libraries might not be as quiet as they once were, but they are still a great resource for everyone! Thanks for loaning out your advice.
HELOISE
HELOISE
P.O. Box 795000
San Antonio, TX 78279-5000
Entry Filed under: News/Articles Clips. Tags: children, funding, kids, library, loud, noisy.
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1.
Cindy | April 14, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Hey,
Thanks for posting this reply from Heloise. I missed this. I think this also goes to we all seem as a culture to act like we are entitled to everything exactly as we want it, and not taking into consideration the needs of others. I’m not at a public library, but I’m sure the babysitting is a problem. It’s also a problem for working parents–I liked the librarian’s suggestion that people volunteer to help with kid’s programs.
People need a place for community; and that is a role a library can step up to while still preserving some of our traditional functions of resources and information.
2.
lissagirl | April 18, 2008 at 11:01 pm
I saw this online and had to sympathize- there really can never be enough workers at a successful library, so volunteers are important. My neighborhood library is small, so a little noise goes a long way. Most people, including the kids, try to be considerate of other patrons. Since there are so many families the place is usually packed with kids of all ages, doing homework or crafts or storytime. There are days when the librarians really look like they could use a break, but in general it’s encouraging that so many kids want to spend time with books. And the adult patrons are very active as well, in book clubs, the Friends group, all kinds of general interest meetings (I want to go to one of the opera reviews held for each of the productions at HGO-)I guess we’re fortunate that the local library is an integral part of community life, and the neighborhood wants to keep it that way.