Dear Jaclyn and Heidi,
I hate to sound like the Christmas grinch but I am at my wit’s end. Setting out on the trip, I planned to regularly do a bit of work in a reasonably quiet environment, and to perhaps read a book or a magazine in an air-conditioned library. Little did I know our libraries have turned into noise-filled nightmares. Why do we have to have high decibel kids’ craft activities conducted by shouting library staff in the most prominent area posible? Why do we have to have talks, singalongs, and endless loudspeaker announcements? A visit to a library is now a nerve-shredding, non-productive horror where it is impossible to concentrate. It’s good children visit libraries … but shouldn’t they be encouraged to read! Surely, they can go to playgroups or somewhere to scream! Where can I work?
Anita
It’s impossible to deny that libraries have changed a lot since the ‘whisper please’ days of lore, Anita. They are now considered to be more ‘community spaces’ than simply places to read, study and browse. I am sure if libraries hadn’t changed, you wouldn’t be able to find an electrical socket to power your laptop from, or to access free wi-fi and the rest. Take the good with the bad, Anita. Why not try putting headphones on and listening to music as you work, or ask staff if there is a quiet area. Whatever you do though, Anita, don’t allow yourself to become negative. Look on the bright side of life, smile at this still minor inconvenience and be grateful that you are on the road in paradise … and that you don’t have to take one of those screaming kids back to the van with you!
Jaclyn
Oh, Anita. There is a time and place for everything and I could not agree more with you … a library is not the place for ill-mannered, hyped-up ankle biters to be encouraged to run amok by so-called ‘librarians’ who probably wouldn’t know a Mills & Boon from a Chaucer. If they want to change a library from a place of learning to a place of pre-teen terror, why don’t they at least be honest enough to change the name to ‘creche’. If grey nomads can’t read in peace, students can’t study in peace, and staff can’t stop competing to see who can talk the loudest, then this will be just another pillar of our civilisation to crumble. Complain, write letters … and then keep your fingers crossed, Anita, but I suspect it is probably time to buy some earmuffs – or hide in your caravan!
Heidi
