Woes from the Suggestion Book Archive

We received 41 complaints about noise in the library:

3443. Something needs to be done about socializing people to proper Library etiquette. People come in as part of a group of friends, talking loudly, laughing etc. & in general treating the Library as the place in which to conduct their social life. The amount of noise in this Library is awful.
We answered: Noise is a problem and it is important that all Library users take responsibility for maintaining quiet in the Library so that people are able to study without being disturbed. A complicating factor is that some students entering the Library are actually going to Counseling where quiet is not a necessity. If a group of students is socializing and creating a disturbance contact one of the librarians.
[in 2007 we still struggle to maintain a balance between traditional “Library etiquette” (shhhhhh!) and the Library as a community space on campus. And we still share space with the Counseling Office, and soon the Financial Aid office will move into this space as well, continuing these complicating factors]