What Ever Happened To Quiet Libraries? (San Diego, San Jose: renting, daycare, house)

[djxpress]

I go to the Carmel Mountain and PQ public libraries. Maybe I'm used to University libraries, but I remember in the old days (20 years ago) libraries used to be QUIET? Nowadays you have people using the library as some sort of meetup facility, parents who let their kids run around screaming, and yes even JAZZERCISE classes held at the library!

What gives? I never though I'd have to leave the library to get some peace and quiet. Where can a person go to study in peace?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by djxpress

I go to the Carmel Mountain and PQ public libraries. Maybe I'm used to University libraries, but I remember in the old days (20 years ago) libraries used to be QUIET? Nowadays you have people using the library as some sort of meetup facility, parents who let their kids run around screaming, and yes even JAZZERCISE classes held at the library!

What gives? I never though I'd have to leave the library to get some peace and quiet. Where can a person go to study in peace?

I Thought it was just me and the libraries I visited. I've used libraries in San Diego, Oakland and in Washington state and they are all like this seriously. Libraries aren't places to study anymore that's for sure.

[oddstray]

I think we're out of luck with the libraries. Except maybe the university libraries, if they still enforce *quiet* rules.

To be fair, the libraries are trying to expand their place in the community beyond simply books. They're becoming community centers, and that's not an entirely bad thing.

I wish, though, that they would each have at least one *quiet* room.

[earlyretirement]

Nope. Those days I think are gone. In the 4S Ranch SD County library that I go to it's quite noisy with many young kids running around (and I can't complain because typically when I take my young ones..they are the same). They have toys and games and some parents don't make any effort to tell their kids to be quiet.

I typically don't sit in there for long periods of times. Sometimes I'll read my kids a story but mostly it's to go in and out. I can reserve a book, or DVD online and just pick it up and you don't even have to talk to anyone as it's just self check-out with the automated key chain tag.

I agree with oddstray they have pretty much become community centers. They have classes, etc. and not really quiet. Maybe others in San Diego are different. I just mainly go to this one.

[Gentoo]

Actually I went to one fairly quiet library, it was in San Francisco. The Oakland main, Oakland Lakeview, Berkeley, San Diego main, SD Kensington and Parkland-Spanaway Washington, especially that last one were very noisy.

I agree with oddstray that they are more community centers now. Early, congrats on the contest win

[Snort]

Shhh! Use your indoor voice.

[sjnative]

Unfortunately, the social state of libraries today mirrors society today- one in which people feel entitled to be rude (to do whatever they want at other people's expense), and the "authorities" tolerate it because when anyone is asked to behave himself, he becomes mortally offended that his rudeness entitlement has been violated.

If you want an actual usable library, I suggest avoiding the neighborhood branch of your library since those usually really are daycare centers and there are few places in the library to go to get away from screaming kids. Instead, I suggest going to the biggest branch in your library system as the biggest ones will give you more spaces whereby to simply get away from noisy people. In San Jose, we have our MLK library- 8 floors in size- which has plenty of noisy lowlifes in it but with so much space, you can ditch them easily.

All that said, I also suggest using a bit of technology to help you. I recommend noise-isolating headphones or earphones. Bose makes their noise-cancelling headphones which I see a lot of people using, and I recommend any of the earphones by Etymotic, esp that you use the foam cylinder earpieces because they're the densest and therefore the most noise isolating.

Also use a white noise smartphone app, like White Noise.

To summarize- if they won't shut up, then distance yourself from them and then try to drown their noise out with technology.

[skeke]

I go to the Rolando College library all the time and have found it to be quiet. Granted, I have not gone there to study. I'm just there to pick up a book I have on reserve or browse the shelves and then check out but I have never found my library to be noisy.

[Think4Yourself]

The Scripps Ranch library is usually very quiet unless you go on Monday, Weds, Friday mornings (which I don't as I work) when they do the aerobics class for all the house wives in the area. I have noticed that the people who do Tai-Chi are much quieter than the aerobics group though. Other than that it's pretty quiet and nice for reading.

Edit: I didn't know they had a chess club and a knitting club but I don't see those two groups getting out of hand. The parenting and babies class probably does get loud though.
http://www.srfol.org/

[rgb123]

they do aerobics at the library? what the?

I've noticed CA libraries to be much different than what I'm used to (lots of homeless). I do think libraries should be quiet.

I actually want to be a librarian as my second career ....this would drive me crazy. I guess most of my recent library experience has been academic libraries which are quiet.

Screaming kids are definitley everywhere I'm sad to hear parents aren't controlling their children even in libraries.