My library has study booths for people who really need quiet. As seen here, they make the person using them look sort of like a contestant on a fifties game show.
Why are these necessary? Because guests in the library are loud. Some talk on the phone. Some just blatantly rant to themselves. And the thing is that the library will just...let you. Shushing is a thing of the past. If you started screaming obscenities at other patrons, someone would probably tell you to stop. Probably, but I don't know for sure. Even then it would be awkward, and no one wants to be awkward. But as far as enforcing guidelines that mean you'll need to show consideration for everyone else, no, nobody does that.
1 comment:
You're right about what those study booths look like. These are definitely strange days when nobody pays attention to what used to be the unspoken rules of normal behavior. It's distressing and most unfortunate.
Jer told me it was much the same in hospital when he found himself sharing a room with a schizophrenic who shouted in general and then played a loud podcast at midnight while he slept. Facilities and employees aren't prepared to deal with mentally ill and drug addicted patients. There's lots of security personnel near the ER's but not on the floors unless things go very bad. Librarians don't have that option.
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Here's Dr. Jacob on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace - the DMSO episode
https://youtu.be/4XEt0n6LPrk?si=PwwY0-_3ju3EvY5l
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