Should people have to be quiet in libraries?

[harleyquinn]

Hello all!

I'm a children's librarian, and right now I feel that I can do nothing right with this topic. Last week an older woman complained to me that the children's section was way too loud and I should be trying to quiet them. Two days later, I asked 2 children (4-6) to be quieter (in my best, super-friendly children's librarian voice). The mom complained about me to the library's director! Trust me the kids (and the mom) were loud. The only reason I said anything is that there were other kids in my section trying to study and to be tutored.

SO how do you all feel about this? Should children (and adults) still have to be quiet in the library in this day and age?

My personal opinion is that it depends on the what the comminuty wants, but when I'm getting such conflicting ideas, how do I reconcile them?

 

[720L]

Yes everybody should be quiet in the library. I have brought my kids to the library since they were old enough to want to look at picture books. If they got noisy I would tell them we have to be quiet or we have to leave. They always listened and now have great "library behaviour". The kids you mentioned were old enough to know how to be quiet and should have been quiet, IMO.

 

[snoopy]

Absolutely. That rule should never change.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I would expect it to be a little noisier in the children's section of the library, but I think that it should be fairly quiet. In the other areas I think it should be very quiet.

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

LOL, the librarian at our library complimented the girls on their good "library voices" this weekend and Remy said, "We aren't allowed to talk loud in church, the library and Borders." Ahh, I have trained them well.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

WOW, I didn't think this was anything that ever needed to be asked. It is like a universal law.

Kind of like a traffic light, we stop on red. We enter a library, and it is quiet. And YES, even the children section should be quiet. How else will they learn proper libabry etiquette?

 

[Planogirl]

I think that people should be quiet. I used to study at libraries but forget the public library! Lots of people including adults made a ton of racket.

 

[Tracey1974]

I definitely think so- when I was growing up, the library was the only place I could get peace and quiet to study or work on projects without my siblings all over the place!

If there was a room specifically in the childrens' area for reading out loud, then that would be ok.

 

[harleyquinn]

Good so far I'm not crazy!

I think I just get a bit of "my kid can do no wrong" sort of thing. My biggest problem is kids on the game computer that has headphones.

Sometimes i wonder what kind of values and manners are being taught to some of the kids. Tonight one kid completely distroyed the children's section, pulling out books, putting all the toys in a huge pile, puzzle pieces everywhere. I watched him do it, but I was too busy helping other people to say anything. They got up to leave and I asked if they would help me clean up the section since he made the mess (not in those words, and in my best librarian voice) and the mom asked him if he did it, he said no, and she said "well there were other kids over there, I don't know what he was doing" ! Well, duh, pay attention to your 3 year old!

As for other sections--people on their cell phones are the biggest problem. I had one guy get really nasty with me the other day for asking him to talk more quietly. "I'm sorry sir, but the entire library now knows that you have a traffic ticket that you don't want to pay, because the cop was a ****"

 

[harleyquinn]

LOL, the librarian at our library complimented the girls on their good "library voices" this weekend and Remy said, "We aren't allowed to talk loud in church, the library and Borders." Ahh, I have trained them well.

That's awesome! I do that all the time too, especially with the regulars who are usually pretty out of control. When they're good, I make a really big deal about it.

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter goes to a library program on thursday evenings at our local library..they read, sing do crafts etc...when they are singing you can hear them throughout the whole library, I don't think anyone has ever asked them to not have the kids sing!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Libraries are not quiet anymore, at least the ones I have come across. Back in MO they had a library with a dessert & coffee shop with it. Kinda nice actually.

 

[MrsNick]

While you can't expect kids to be perfectly quiet, they should be encouraged to behave themselves with reasonable quietness in a library.

Not to steal the thread, but I also have a huge issue with people who will NOT shut up during the feature presentation in a movie theater, talk on their cell phones, and make sure not to whisper. One movie that DH and I took DSD to see, a man actually got up in the middle of the movie to yell at the teenagers that "This is not your living room!" because they were making so much racket. GRRR!

Whatever happened to manners, and situation appropriate behavior? Why do parents feel that it is okay to narc on the librarian for enforcing an established, and universal rule? What is that all about?

 

[harleyquinn]

My daughter goes to a library program on thursday evenings at our local library..they read, sing do crafts etc...when they are singing you can hear them throughout the whole library, I don't think anyone has ever asked them to not have the kids sing!

That, IMO, is a huge exception!!! Especially in libraries without programming rooms. One of my branches has a big boat that they do storytimes in that gets really loud! When I worked there it was my favorite part of the day. But they noise lasts about an hour and then it's over. Even my storytime room isn't sound proof. But to me, a bunch of loud kids in a program is much different then one or two loud children who's parents don't even try to keep them under control in the middle of the library.

A lot of libraries are being remodeled with teen and children's areas on one floor and the adult stuff on a another, so the "kid" floor can be loud. I sort of like that idea. Too bad there's no remodel in my library's future!

 

[harleyquinn]

Libraries are not quiet anymore, at least the ones I have come across. Back in MO they had a library with a dessert & coffee shop with it. Kinda nice actually.

I was expecting more responses like this. It's usually what I tell older folks that say "in my day, libraries were totally silent."

With the internet and computers, libraries have gotten A LOT busier! SO the library as a whole has gotten louder. And I don't really think it's a bad thing.

I'm just never sure what to do when there's a really loud kid. How would you feel if a librarian shh'd your kid?

 

[Snowysmom]

At my library, we have quiet areas for people who need to study or just want to read quietly and that is on the bottom floor. On the main floor, people can talk normally, no yelling or screaming or running around. Most parents will tell their kids to talk softly. The children's room is upstairs. Most of the parents and kids talk in their normal voices but sometimes the kids get excited. We do have some singing programs that you can hear down on the first floor but very few people complain. Cell phones were the big problem but we have signs up asking people to keep their conversations short or take them outside so as not to disturb others. So far it has worked. I have heard of kids tearing apart areas in the Children's Room and the parents just don't care. I guess they figure the staff is there to pick it up! I think each library has to decide what they and the community want as far as noise level in their library. Maybe that is something you could discuss at a staff meeting.

 

[weaselboy]

there was a librarian that used to post here, but i think she had some sort of ...breakdown ... after her cruise was cancelled.

 

[snoopy]

Sometimes i wonder what kind of values and manners are being taught to some of the kids. Tonight one kid completely distroyed the children's section, pulling out books, putting all the toys in a huge pile, puzzle pieces everywhere. I watched him do it, but I was too busy helping other people to say anything. They got up to leave and I asked if they would help me clean up the section since he made the mess (not in those words, and in my best librarian voice) and the mom asked him if he did it, he said no, and she said "well there were other kids over there, I don't know what he was doing" ! Well, duh, pay attention to your 3 year old!

Unreal. Even if she DIDN'T see him (and I agree with you, she should have been watching), she should have automatically insisted that he helped clean up the mess.

 

[Kahana-ri]

I believe that a library should be quiet. I have even had a meeting at the library and at times felt that maybe we were talking too loudly. Since childhood I was taught to be quiet when in the library. When did this rule change? My children will learn to use 'library voices' as well.

 

[Lil_Tink]

I guess it depends. Like at our library useual there is no one in our kids section. But we have a SECURITY GUARD ?!?! Yes thats right. That makes sure your quiet.