To be annoyed that the library turned into a kids play area?

[Camdenlife33]

My local library went under some renovations and has finally reopened. It’s a small library and the renovations seem to be an addition of a ‘little ones’ cafe and play area.

The only floor of the library, and so the only area with seating/computers, is now shared with a kids cafe and play area. It’s open plan, so the kids area is seconds away from the ‘quietest area’ of the library. The library is filled with under 5s shouting and darting around. It isn’t a general murmur of background noise, it’s actual screams/shrieks and kids running around and playing IN the library. I’m sure you can imagine what 30+ toddlers together in a play area sounds like - I thought I was at the wrong place.

I genuinely can’t focus. I’m in 3rd year uni and I came to the library to work on my dissertation before work. AIBU to find this unacceptable? It’s strange as there is both a university and a level college in walking distance to this library - I wonder why they didn’t take their visitors who would like to work/study/read in peace into account, and instead essentially turned the library into a kids play building.

(I have already left the library btw)

You wait until they make it into a dog-friendly zone as well. Endless fun.

Perhaps the unpleasant and hostile job centres could have rooms with computer access for job searches, so that they can help clients instead of just growling at them.

SpringNowPlease2018

Loads of libraries are quiet; I've used two different branches on a frequent basis most weeks of this year, and two other branches on a less frequent basis than that.

I think it's a bit disproportionate to stop using libraries altogether because one member of the public had children with noisy shoes, tbh.

@Skatingfastonthinice A dog friendly library sounds great to be fair. Best day ever when I had a dog in my library :)

So many job centres are getting shut too at the moment.

Could be worse, our library is a no-go area even with security guard. Full of druggies and spice heads messing about on facebook on the computers.

Children would be preferable

Look for a different library locally ?
If you are in Camden then go to the British library access is free. Or one of the other li raries with separate spaces for kids. Or local museum may have a library or study space.

You have to have to have a reason to get a British Library pass

What is the point of a job centre? 40 years ago, they were full of cards with jobs on and staff who helped you apply. Now it’s just a hideous experience for young people of a hostile agency.

A friend of mine is on the board of a local library and has just completed a similar project. Adding money-making areas (cafe, functionality for children's groups / parties to hire) is the only way the council would agree to keep the library open. If it doesn't start funding itself within a year it will have to close. Don't complain to the library, complain to your local council that they're not providing enough funding. And then complain to the Government.

I used to work for a charity that ran reading groups in local libraries. I did groups for both adults and children. The focus was on wellbeing - about finding a personal connection with the stories we read, and talking about what it made us feel.

The kids used to take a few minutes to settle down (both the toddler groups and the 5-9 yr olds). But once we were reading a story, and I started to ask them questions about it, they were invested and wanted to share their ideas. The other adults in the library didn't seem to mind this noise. And rightly so - the kids were learning to love books, engaging enthusiastically with stories. THAT kind of noise in a library is acceptable.

But when it's just kids running around screaming mindlessly, it becomes a joke. Another group I ran was for vulnerable adults - lonely elderly people, unemployed adults, some suffering with addiction or mental health issues. We read a short story together every week, and talked about what made us connect - what the story made us feel. People really opened up. Some cried. Many smiled. It was a support group where the attendees became good friends.

But as soon as parents started letting their children run wild around the library - bam. The magic disappeared. The group would withdraw, suddenly aware of other people.... inconsiderate people. It'd be like trying to get blood out of a stone. And this wonderful thing that was getting people out of bed in the morning, that was helping people feel less anxious, more confident, like they belonged somewhere - it disappeared.

This never happened when kids were just reading in the library, or having a rhyme time session, even just chatting away quietly in the kids corner. That was all fine.

But the moment kids started screaming, or running around without any kind of supervision -- it overwhelmed my group members. The library was a sanctuary for them. It wasn't a kids play area.

It should be a quiet sanctuary for everybody.

The reason libraries were provided by councils, were because they could not be commercially provided.

@eniledam that seems like a really worthwhile project. I'm doing something very similar just now in my school library - we got government funding for a wellbeing project which is looking at using books to create empathy to help teenagers deal with difficult times. Libraries really are key to wellbeing and health, if run by professionals who want more than bodies through the door.

Jamie, way to exaggerate what I actually said. It was the last straw after years of noise libraries. And my borough has a policy - or had a policy - of noisy children playing, singing etc across the borough. Of course after that they shut the libraries anyway, or halved them, in fact I genuinely wonder where the books went. The staff, who put up with all those changes to keep the library were given a false date for last day as well, but that's a whole other story.

Much easier to stay at home and get quiet there. I'm in a local book swap now which is good.

OP if you are in reach of central London, then try Birkbeck who sometimes allow other students, or Wellcome Library. Tbh British Library is quite easygoing on "reasons"; they know everywhere is a noisy hellhole now. I do think the future of quiet libraries will happen - but there will be a charge like the London Library.

Public libraries are no use to academics.

I guess they need to be used, round here they have become social hubs, toddler mornings, knitting/craft etc clubs.

I can see how libraries were dying and needed to reinvent themselves. The traditional library isnt a place to study any more

@ParisUSM I couldn't agree more! Your project is EXACTLY the aim of the charity, and they're creating new groups across the country all the time. They're called The Reader Organisation (look up their website, you might find it useful!)

I used to run groups in schools as well - two primaries, and two specialist secondary schools for kids who had been expelled. The expelled students had a lot of behavioural issues. They were always angry, always wanting to mess around. But the moment they got into a story - the moment they shared their ideas and feelings about characters and what would happen next - they were like a different class. They somehow became more vulnerable. With their teachers, and with each other. I'll never forget the moment one of my 13 year-olds almost began to cry during a story we read. When I opened up a discussion, she said it made her feel horrible about how she had treated her little sister in her last school, and that she wanted to be more like the character we were reading about. Kids who had learned to be kinder.

Good luck with your project - it'll be well worth it!

@eniledam that is interesting, I see there's only one in Scotland so far. We're very lucky that the Scottish government is funding wellbeing projects in libraries, they see the value of libraries working on health projects.

That's a lovely story about the 13 year old, that's something she'll never forget.

Why can’t pwople respect other people in the library. I always ensure my kids are behaving appropriately for the place we are at. So library’s and restaurants they are taught not to run around, to sit quietly reading or drawing or on the computer. It’s parents with a complete disregard for other people. Not the kids faults.

I totally agree Heed. It's a shame to see so many groups and students and elderly people being driven out of the library by a particular type of parent who allows their child to disrupt and annoy other people in shared public spaces, and who seems to think the onus is on everyone else to adapt to their family's wants and needs.

The comments by some posters that it is unreasonable to expect any level of peace and quiet in a library because they need to attract young families speaks volumes.

Libraries are struggling to stay open, staff levels are being cut as well as opening hours. Libraries need to share their space with gyms, leisure centres, customers met services, cafes, theatres etc. in order to keep themselves open.

I suggest you ask the library for a list if when children's events are on so you can avoid those times. It won't always be full of children, there will be quieter times too.

My library refurbishment includes equipment to be played on. So of course children will play. And it always seems to be full of kids.

YANBU.

Yes, it is good to encourage families with kids to use the library but why don't they use it AS a library not as a free kid's mosh pit?

@eniledam what book was it that caused such a strong reaction in the 13 year old?

@RhiWrites I never read books with her group - it was always short stories. They had too short attention spans to stick with a book for months on end! I can't remember the author of the story, but I remember it being called something like "The Mirror"? It was a magical realism story about a group of friends that come across a cursed mirror.

YANBU. it’s very sad.

There is a real erosion of peace and quiet these days, everywhere has to be noisy, people seem to be afraid of silence.

You see it when people play their music and videos on trains, talk loudly on phones, noisy libraries and churches, shops that sound like nightclubs. I was at the doctors today and they had the local radio station piped into the waiting room really loud.

I'm someone who loves silence, birdsong, the sound of water, tranquil spaces. I know I'm not the only person who feels like this, but it feels like the cult of self, of the extrovert trumps people like me and we are just expected to put up and shut up

Of course there needs to be spaces for kids to run around and enjoy themselves, but we need to preserve the few tranquil places we have left before they are all gone

That's not a library op that is a play area with books. I grew up across the road from our local library, we spent a lot of time in there and we didn't find it difficult to keep quiet. I have brought all my DC to the library since they were babies, complete silence is not expected from young children but running around and screaming is just ridiculous.