Noisy children in the library

[Quipsandquotes]

I don't want libraries to go back to the days when a cross looking librarian 'shushed' anyone who raised their voice above a whisper. But things seem to have gone to the other extreme now. I was in my local library yesterday and there were:

Children standing on the chairs and jumping off them
Children running up and down the length of the library
Children shouting at the tops of their voices
A mother calling loudly to her sons at the other end of the library

It was more like being in a playground than a library.

AIBU to think there should be some level of calm and peace in the library, and parents should respect other users trying to read, study, or simply select a book without having to listen to a non stop racket?

I think it's a bit much to expect hushed tones in a children's library but jumping off chairs and actually shouting is obviously way over the line of acceptable behaviour. I think most people would be very tolerant of a toddler having a tantrum and their parent whisking them out or a child speaking a bit loudly etc. but it sounds like the mum was joining in herself! YANBU

I go into libraries all the time with my DC who do occasionally get excited and make some noise. One of them is a toddler so although I try my best to keep him as quiet as possible, he is still partial to shouting and running around the children's section. Obviously I do my best to keep him under control but I do feel sorry for any adults trying to work close by. I'm not really sure what the answer is to be honest as I think libraries are such a useful resource for toddlers/young children and adults alike, however the way the two groups want to use the library seem to be pretty incompatible with one another.

When I was a child the adult and children's sections were usually on different floors, or segregated in some way. In our local library now they're all on the same floor, with no divider or screen or anything, so children making a lot of noise impacts on everyone.