Food, drink & other things in the library

[A Library User]

This is nothing new but save from walking up and slamming this in to the face of the perpetrators...here is a note to any and all library users on library etiquette:

- "Respect the needs of other users of the Library." If there is a massive queue for the computers, my need to print an essay far exceeds your need to check Facebook. Don't get arsey if I ask you nicely to let me use the computer for what it is for. Also, there are now new desks for people to plug in their laptops but they can fill up, you don't need to sit right in front of the outlet. There are TWO plug sockets, move along and let me put my laptop down. Make friends with the person next to you and skooch up, they won't bite!

- "Switch off mobile phones and personal stereos in the Library." YES, I CAN hear your bloody music on your iPod even if YOU think it's turned down low. Just because you can concentrate on your work with that crap blaring doesn't mean I can or I should be expected to try. Don't turn it down...turn it off and put it away. Also, for mobiles, I suppose you don't have to turn it off but at least turn it to SILENT. If you MUST answer your precious phone call from your mate about how waaaaaaaasted they were last night, go outside THEN answer. Don't answer then gab on loudly for 10 minutes while you grab your things and shuffle to the door.

- "Do not consume food or smoke in the building. Bottled water is permitted." DO NOT EAT ANYTHING IN THE LIBRARY. This has to be the one that annoys me most. There are signs up but that doesn't seem to stop people rustling and crackling with their sodding crisp packets, sandwiches, muffins, chocolate, etc. It is hugely irritating and selfish. I don't even eat lunch because the work I have to do takes precedence and I'd rather postpone my food and be hungry than piss people off when they need to concentrate on matters more important than my peckishness. Bottled WATER too, I don't want to hear people glugging on anything if I'm honest but least of all do I want to hear the CLICK-FSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHT-GLUG-GLUG-AHHHHH-CLANK of your coke. Thirsty? Use the drinking fountains provided or GO OUTSIDE.

- "To observe silence in study areas on levels 1, 3 & 4." SHUT THE FUCK UP. Simply. I don't need to hear you and your obnoxious friends guffaw and shrill inanely about your tiresome social antics. The library is not a place to catch up. It's a LIBRARY for goodness sake, a place where silence is expected and should be observed.

Source: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/library/Lib ... ofConduct/

Sorry for that, rant over. I feel much better I'm sure most of you do follow these but please if you see any people doing this, tell them nicely that they're breaking the rules, because there's no reason why the rest of us should be expected to put up with this.

[Frank]

That's not a rant, it's an insight into your intolerably sanctimonious mind. A happy medium (not a cheerful psychic, but a compromise sortof thing) is required.

My suggestion to you, captain, is to invest in some ear-plugs. If they're breaking the rules, point this out. If they're not, leave it out and fix your own solution.

[Power Metal Dom]

I think a happy medium is what I always adopt in situations like the Library User's but I more than likely think what they are saying too. I wouldn't let the little things get to me but if they did I'd sooner suffer in silence than say anything or 'buy ear plugs'. Lack of library manners does annoy me sometimes but they're not too hard to ignore.

[starsandsparkles]

If it's that bad, find somewhere else to work.

*cue "it's a library, that's what it's there for" etc*

I don't know how anyone works in the main library anyway. It's dire.

[Power Metal Dom]

Actually on that ^ note, I often work in the room above the St Mary's library because it's very quiet and mostly empty even if it's freezing cold.

[starsandsparkles]

Actually on that ^ note, I often work in the room above the St Mary's library because it's very quiet and mostly empty even if it's freezing cold.

Haha I was going to say that but didn't want everyone flocking there! It's called the King James library.

The boiler should be fixed by now?

[Hennessy]

I do remember sitting next to someone who was being arsey the other day, a huge fat girl with glasses who obviously hadn't finished her essay before the due day and yet to my surprise spent most of her time squeezing out of her chair and walking around telling others to be quiet, before plopping her grand-piano sized arse back down on her chair and carrying on. The spectacle convinced me of the need for tolerance in the library.

Also, most people entering the library to use the computers don't make the vacous assumption that they will be able to complete their essays there, that's what your own computer is for. Last week.

[Delts]

People who want absolute silence but don't take their own measures to ensure it really piss me off. Yes, I need music to work, I don't care if you need silence, wear ear plugs! I use them when I want silence. Trying to make everyone shut up to suite yourself is so arrogant, imagine the uproar if I were to insist that everyone in the library had to listen to Venetian Snares?

[An incensed library user]

A happy medium ... is required.

No. Rule following is required. The whole point of rules is that they shouldn't be compromised.

If they're breaking the rules, point this out.

That was my point. I already said that, thank you.

If they're not, leave it out and fix your own solution.

Where did I imply that I would bother people who weren't breaking rules? Or that I was complaining about anything not mentioned in the rules?

I'd sooner suffer in silence...they're not too hard to ignore.

You shouldn't have to suffer at all or ignore people. It's YOUR library and you have every right to use it as it was intended. The people who DON'T use it as intended are the ones with no rights.

If it's that bad, find somewhere else to work.

I shouldn't have to. No one should have to. Obviously! An exaggerated analogy would be "Well, people are fighting, smoking and shitting in the swimming pool, but that's ok I'll just go find another pool". NO. FUCK THAT. Get these bastards out of here, they are breaking the rules and I am NOT. That's the principle at hand here. It's not like they're doing small things that can be overlooked, it's flagrant, loud, disruptive and could effect someone's work.

a huge fat girl with glasses...squeezing out of her chair...plopping her grand-piano sized arse

I don't know what you have against fat people but it is as irrelevant as it is offensive. She might not have gone about it in an appropriate manner but the point that you should be able to grasp is that she had the right to tell loud people not to disturb others. She might not be making any friends but she's bloody correct and that's all that is being discussed here.

Also, most people entering the library to use the computers don't make the vacous assumption that they will be able to complete their essays there, that's what your own computer is for.

Is there a rule saying that you can't start/complete an essay at a university computer? As far as I know...no. So people who have work to do shouldn't be able to do it in the library because people who have already done the bulk of their work have priority? Absurd. If you are using the computer for non-work purposes while I have work to do and there are no others available...log off and get out of the chair.

Yes, I need music to work, I don't care if you need silence, wear ear plugs!

LISTEN TO IT AT HOME. The rules say switch off your personal stereos. It's not trying to make you shut up to suit myself, it's me pointing out you are breaking a rule which is intended for everyone. It is entirely not selfish. It's fairly obvious to anyone who has the slightest grasp of manners and consideration for others that they may not want to listen to your music just because you want/need it on. The library is a place for quiet not for the constant drone of your music. I NEED to juggle knives while I work, HOW SELFISH OF YOU TO TELL ME THAT I CAN'T! WEAR ARMOUR!

Imagine the uproar if I were to insist that everyone in the library had to listen to Venetian Snares?

Yes, imagine it. Not because someone had insisted on it for their own selfish gain but because it would music in a place where music is INAPPROPRIATE. What an intensely unintelligent hypothetical.

I know a blow-by-blow reply isn't exactly going to convince anyone against me being pretentious or 'sanctimonious', but honestly I didn't think the 'annoying-fucks-who-flaunt-the-rules-and-ruin-a-serious-place-of-work-can-get-away-with-whatever-they-like' view would prevail. I ranted initially but now I'm just incredulous as to how most people think that the harmless complainer is worse than the harmful rule-breakers. It's just wrong.

[Frank]

No. Rule following is required. The whole point of rules is that they shouldn't be compromised.

Bah.
http://www.answers.com/rules

If they're breaking the rules, point this out.

That was my point. I already said that, thank you.

I don't think you understand. If they're rule-breaking get up, tell them to quit it or go and report them. Or come here and moan, sound ignorantly inflexible and be ridiculed.

Yes, I need music to work, I don't care if you need silence, wear ear plugs!

LISTEN TO IT AT HOME. The rules say switch off your personal stereos. It's not trying to make you shut up to suit myself, it's me pointing out you are breaking a rule which is intended for everyone. It is entirely not selfish. It's fairly obvious to anyone who has the slightest grasp of manners and consideration for others that they may not want to listen to your music just because you want/need it on.

Incorrect, unless we're going down the "Only my view is that of someone who has a grasp of manners and consideration!" (No True Scotsman?) route. It's fairly obvious that exceptions are made to rules. Unpalatable? Well, perhaps it is. Unfortunately some folks, and get this: this is astounding!, some people get into the library without showing their card!

WHAT THE FUCK!?



Oh, it's not *really* a problem, is it? If the stereo is really loud or audible, go and ask someone to turn it down to the point where it's not (WHERE ARE YOUR EARPLUGS, HMMM?). Folks might not have comfortable workspaces at home/in their room and desire to use somewhere with a larger desk area, but they find it almost impossible to work in silence (earplugs), or idle-silence (the quiet of a library is, unfortunately, filled with insurmountable distractions, for me).

I know a blow-by-blow reply isn't exactly going to convince anyone against me being pretentious or 'sanctimonious', but honestly I didn't think the 'annoying-fucks-who-flaunt-the-rules-and-ruin-a-serious-place-of-work-can-get-away-with-whatever-they-like' view would prevail. I ranted initially but now I'm just incredulous as to how most people think that the harmless complainer is worse than the harmful rule-breakers. It's just wrong.

I think the view that "Rule breaking=evil" is the obviously wrong one. Rules aren't strictly adhered to in most aspects of life. Some rules are more significant than others. Whoop. If you want library rules to be seriously adhered to, make them more sensible and accomodating. "Noise issues? Get some earplugs!"

If the library were to start selling a variety of them...

[Fawksie]

I NEED to juggle knives while I work, HOW SELFISH OF YOU TO TELL ME THAT I CAN'T! WEAR ARMOUR!

You've just won the thread.

[Delts]

Of course, if most people don't follow the rules then the rules have no power and are thus null and void.

And what's stopping you from working at home in your own silence? Why do I have to work at home since I have an iPod: "I shouldn't have to. No one should have to."

I've also never seen a sign stating that my iPod is not permitted, this could be my own blindness but if I'm missing it then there is something up with where the rules are posted.

Also, why do you deserve priority to work. The computers are there for everyone, be it for work or facebook. To want priority just because you have an essay to do is idiotic, and there are plenty of other quiet computer rooms. I'm in maths as I write this and it's less than half full.

Oh, and in the ways of you implying that I am selfish, I imply that you incensed library user are a passive aggressive idiotic twat.

Good day

[RandomMusings]

You can tell that it is nearing deadline time when this old chestnut of a thread topic crops up.... again!

[starsandsparkles]

You can tell it's essay submission time...Calm down! (edit: oops, got beaten to it by RandomMusings)

As I said, I expected that your reaction to my comment would be "but I shouldn't have to". I entirely agree, but I don't think posting on the sinner or sitting there building up silent rage is going to help with your work.

There are four departmental libraries and seven class libraries. There are numerous computer rooms. There's even a library in the Catholic Chaplaincy. Beanscene was pretty quiet with people working when I went yesterday.

Edit II: There are also study rooms and libraries in most of the halls.

It can't be that hard to find somewhere more suited to your needs.

[RandomMusings]

Of course,.........
............I imply that you incensed library user are a passive aggressive idiotic twat.

Bad day, Delts?

[ojk6]

Have to admit, I got a pizza delivered to the library once. I ate it outside tho.

[Thalia]

I agree that someone going on a computer to check their emails, facebook, whatever, has just as much right to use the computer as someone with an essay. You wait your turn and when you get your turn you can use the computer for whatever your needs are. I would never give up a computer for someone because they ranted at me that their essay was more important than what i was doing. If they asked politely, of course, i probably would, but just because i'm on facebook doesn't mean i'm not also working on an essay - taking a break is good for your concentration anyway

And besides this, i've never understood why people always flock to the library and then wait in big huge queues for the computers anyway. Butts Wynd is like 2 minutes away and rarely has a big queue for computers so if it was busy in the library i always went there, though this is only if i happened to be working near there - normally i would work in the Bute (which is rarely full) or the South St Library.

[Gubbins]

I'm not normally one to get incensed about matters of library etiquette, having generally shunned the printed word in favour of the electronic copy. However, I hope I'm not terrible old-fashioned in thinking that a library is, almost definitively, a place for silence. I find it incredibly difficult to read and digest information when I can hear music and I imagine a lot of other people are the same. Is anyone here genuinely saying that they feel they have the right to listen to music in a library (or indeed anywhere in public) at a volume at which other people can hear it?

[What?]

I know I'm not perfect but 10 minutes of constant stage whispering from a group of 'yahs' on floor 2 right now is really getting on my tits. They all just came back from a fag break, clearly forgot the break is finished.

Gah.

[Delts]

Of course,.........
............I imply that you incensed library user are a passive aggressive idiotic twat.

Bad day, Delts?

Not yet although there are the makings of one. I just dislike the moany library types. I far prefer the maths computer room where people don't get caught up about things like me drinking cola, or eating chocolate, or listening to music. Although then again I mainly frequent it at 2am.