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We all know the usual library rules-no food, (except in the Open Zone), phones onto silent, blah blah. But aside from these explicit regulations, which, when broken, can lead to a reproachful look or tut from library staff, there are a series of less widely acknowledged, ‘unspoken’ rules which are equally as likely to earn you a scornful comment or almighty glare from your fellow sufferers if not adhered to.
Firstly, no noisy food. Yes, I have already said that food is not allowed, but in the jungle that is the J.B. Morrell library, vacating your seat to go get food will usually result in it being pounced upon within seconds. A lost seat is never regained. Ask a Lib Dem. With the right approach you can usually get away with eating at your seat, without getting detected by library staff. Crisps are to be avoided at all costs. Cereal bars are slightly more acceptable, depending on the rustliness of the wrapper. Chocolate bars can get messy if crumbly. I speak from experience. Nothing with tuna; the smell will betray you. Grapes are the way forward. Quiet and tidy. Subtlety is key.
Don’t be the joker who chases a can of coke down 3 flights of stairs, picks it up, sits down and open it immediately. You and I both know it won’t end well, and as much as it might entertain you, I’m betting the coke-drenched postgrad next to you who’s been in the library for 11 hours straight in a desperate bid to solve the mysteries of the origins of the universe won’t share the joke.
Couples. No. It is a library, not an over-the-top cheesily romantic restaurant. If this is your idea of a perfect date then, um, whatever floats your boat, but no-one else wants to put up with your over the top PDAs whilst trying to cram Shakespeare’s sonnets or German grammar for a 9am exam tomorrow.
Do not sit next to someone when there are plenty of other tables free. It’s weird. Diagonally is ok at a push. Opposite as a last resort. Never adjacent. This is not a social occasion, therefore doing so will render you the same level as that creepy guy who sits behind you on an empty bus. And no-one wants to be that guy.
If you’re going to be using a book for a whole day, take it out on loan. There is nothing more annoying that being told a book is available, trekking all the way onto campus only to find that it is nowhere to be found on the shelves or in returned items. Then you turn around and some smug so-and-so sitting there up to their eyes in textbooks, including the one you need, not actually using them, other than to conceal the Nintendo DS he’s been playing on for the past two hours. Again, this may just be my experience.
If you think you may be guilty of doing the above, please think twice before doing so again, lest you feel the wrath of a stampede of exam-stressed students.
"Couples. No. It is a library, not an over-the-top cheesily romantic restaurant."
Yes! Thank you. You could also add the annoying people who apparently can't concentrate on their work without listening to music on full volume. And the people who think the library is a great place to organise their social lives and rehash their escapades from the previous night. And the people who request books, make you return them, but never actually collect them. Grrrrrrrr.
they call it the silent area for a reason not the 'have a little chat area' or the 'audible baseline area', if your not silent don't come in! you have the rest of the world to do your stage whispering in!
wow I guess I have stronger feelings about this than I thought!
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