Sssh! Don't you know you're in the library?

BY JESSICA MEYER

I go to the library for a number of reasons. I go to get away from the distractions of a computer, a radio, and my roommates. I go to force myself to work in academic surroundings rather than those associated with relaxation and sleep. I go to get out of my room.

So there I was one evening at a table in CCL. You know the ones. You can see them through the windows as you walk down the stairs to the library entrance. They're the ones right next to the upper floor of the stacks, near the reference shelves.

For the first hour-and-a-half that I was there I managed to be very productive. Then a group of people decided to use a table next to mine to study for their astronomy exam. I wouldn't have minded had they conducted their study session in whispered, or at least lowered, tones. Instead, they talked in full voice, occasionally raising the decibel level to greet people who had just arrived.

This made studying much more difficult (not that it was easy or entertaining to begin with). I have always viewed the areas flanking the circulation desk as quiet study areas, if only because of their proximity to the stacks and open study carrels. They are part of the library and, while the tables do make attractive meeting places for study groups who want to talk, one of the rules of most libraries that I know of is that if you must talk, you whisper. This rule allows other people to read, study, or conduct research in relative peace.

There are other, more appropriate, places to arrange study group meetings. Many people choose to study in their dorms, but for those who desire a setting more suited to academics than noisy, crowded rooms, the most obvious setting is Machine City. Slightly removed from both CCL and Sterling, it allows students to talk in regular tones without disturbing anyone.

If Machine City seems too academic in its location, there is usually a college common room free most nights somewhere on campus; Durfee's can also make a good place to study with a group; and now Commons-at-Night provides yet another suitable meeting place (although one that may not be entirely free of distractions). The point is that there are options other than the library where people can go to study in talkative groups.

It is certainly difficult to have your work interrupted with loud conversation; but to have that conversation continue after you have asked for quiet--its participants seemingly oblivious to the disturbance they are creating--is even more annoying and seems even rude. This is simply a lack of respect for those nearby.

At the risk of sounding trite, I feel it is important to remember that we live at Yale in a community. If we are to use the assets of that community, including the library, we must respect other members of that community who share those assets. This includes being aware of those around us and listening to them.

A request to be quiet is not merely the infringement on your liberty to talk that it may seem. The person asking is probably just attempting to fulfill a selfish desire to work under his or her optimum, independent, conditions.

A compromise would seem to be in order between the people who desire to study in groups and those who want quiet when
they study. There are other places for large study groups to meet on campus. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about quiet study areas for those of us not blessed with singles.

So, if you want to study in a group, do so, by all means. But please, arrange to meet in an appropriate place and leave those of us who prefer to study independently at least one place of peace and quiet. And if someone asks you to be quiet in the library, or outside an office, please do so. It shows the sort of respect that allows a community to function, particularly one that is based, as Yale is, on study.

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