Meet me at the library

Walking into the library with my study face on, I head to the quiet floor making sure I will have the environment to complete my work. Just 10 minutes into my study time, a big group of people come and sit down at the table next to me. I don’t mind them at first, I can work and have a little background noise but the quiet conversation escalated quickly. I began to hear individual people from this group mostly from a girl talking about how “Rob” did not text her back today.
I also enjoyed the conversations about going tanning, and what time they were going to the salon that evening. This is the quiet floor people, not the Starbucks lounge. I stood up, walked out and went back to my apartment. I knew that going back to my apartment would make it a struggle for me to complete my work because it is a home environment not a productive one.
Most students use the library as a productive place to complete work or get ahead in their studies. I mean, that’s what a library is for right? With our upcoming generations arriving at college, students are starting to use this academic facility as a social spot to hang out with friends. There are specific spots in the library where group meetings are more permitted and areas where there is no talking. The library is starting to become a place to catch up with friends, not somewhere you can actually focus.
As a student, I find myself running away from the library to avoid the social setting. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy hanging out with friends too, I am a huge social butterfly; it’s a big part of who I am. But when it comes to crunch time, I need to focus. We pay money to have this place as a resource to be useful with our time, not to have to worry about people coming to interrupt other students working. There are other floors available to do group work, or even rooms to go in so you can talk, I just don’t understand the logic in coming to the quiet floor if you have to talk to Melissa about what color you should dye your hair.
I hope students recognize this more now that it 7is becoming the “okay” thing to do when you come to the library. Let’s try and be courteous of your fellow students who are working hard and need this certain place to focus!
Courtney Potts is a third-year student majoring in psychology. She can be reached at CP763356@wcupa.edu.