Sunday 18 October 2009

libraries

I must be getting old - but when did libraries stop being libraries and become childcare centres? I know I was brought up a bit strictly, but when I was a child you were told to be quiet in libraries by both parents and librarians on pain of strict punishment. If you had to talk it was in a whisper. None of that in Cambridge Central library this Saturday where I went for a quiet (ha ha) read as I had an hour spare before meeting friends. It was absolute bedlam, with kids screaming and shouting and even the adults weren't talking quietly. To be fair, I didn't go upstairs to the 'quiet reading area', but to my mind all of a library should be quiet, that's kind of the point.

Quiet places seem to be disappearing. I've nothing against children, and I realise that "children should be seen and not heard" is no longer appropriate, but no one ever seems to tell their children to be quiet anywhere - not in restaurants, or museums, or shops. I'm prepared to put up with that, but libraries? Is nothing sacred any more?!

Am I the only person left who thinks that it might actually be good for children for them to be silent sometimes, or at least to have a bit of quiet time in the otherwise hectic modern world?