Cozy contemplation in libraries needs its own room

Cozy contemplation in libraries needs its own room
By: Monica Rhor

HOUSTON (AP) -- Step inside the children's area of the Clear Lake-County Freeman Public Library and you'll be greeted by a tumult of toddlers babbling, librarians singing and mommies cooing.

The noise wafts up to the second floor adult section, where patrons click on computer keyboards, teenagers watch movies on a big-screen TV and bookshelf browsers chat on cell phones. But slip inside a glass-enclosed "quiet space" and this is what you'll find: silence offering some old-fashioned cozy contemplation.

Around the country, more and more public libraries provide designated quiet rooms to take the edge off their transformation into chaotic hubs, which was done in part to draw more visitors and keep pace with the demands of frenetic, technology-driven lives.

While adding toddler playtime and teen dances, library officials discovered that many patrons still longed for a traditional, less hectic atmosphere.

"People wanted a place for quiet study. It takes them out of the hustle and bustle in buildings that are very busy," said Rhoda Goldberg, director of the Harris County public library system, which includes the suburban Clear Lake building among its 26 branches. "We're going to be putting in quiet rooms as much as possible."

Inside the Clear Lake quiet room, the loudest noises are whispers and the faint rustling of turning pages. Even the overstuffed upholstered armchairs encourage patrons to sink into stillness.

"A library is supposed to be a place where you study, but now people type on computers, watch TV, talk on the phone. There's no civility," said one fan, retired engineer Ronnie Sams, 62. "This is the quietest place in the library. That's why I come here to read."

In Westlake, Ohio, the public library features a gift shop and a lobby cafe, aspiring to mimic the atmosphere of a busy retail bookstore rather than a muted lair for bookworms, said Mary Worthington, the assistant director for public services.

But it also has a quiet room, where visitors who talk too loudly are gently reminded to tone down. "We didn't want to be the kind of library that shushes people," she said.

The public library in Plainfield, Ill., offers teen dances and online gaming clubs along with a quiet room, with officials conceding it's the only hushed space. The Seattle library system has 16 "quiet study" rooms among 26 branches. So many people were calling to inquire about the rooms, library officials had to put a special information section on their Web site.

At the Clear Lake library, wide-screen televisions are placed in an internet cafe just behind the DVD collection and inside the Teen Zone lounge, where clusters of young people plop in comfortable chairs placed haphazardly around the room.

"Today, we don't try to make everyone do the same thing," said Harris County's Goldberg as she led a visitor on a tour. "We try to make it be what it needs to be for people using it at the moment."

Goldberg pushed open a door in the children's section. A cacophony of noise bolted out. The singsong of nursery rhymes. The clatter of rattles. A chorus of baby talk.

"In here, this is what a library sounds like now," said Goldberg, who then motioned toward the second floor quiet room. "And the silence up there, that's the other way the library sounds."

Back downstairs, where toddler story time had just ended, a row of pint-sized readers stood on stools behind self-checkout kiosks, swiping books across magnetic strips. Among them was 22-month-old Maggie Lin, who wore a ladybug T-shirt and gleefully checked out book after book from her pile of twelve.

"We love it here because you're allowed to be loud," said her mother, Lisa Lin. "I want my children to have fun here and they can't if I'm telling them to be quiet all the time."

As Lin talked, Maggie showed off her last book.

Its title? "Sshhhh!"
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From: Associated Press