EDITOR’S NOTE: I apologize for not posting last weekend. I had the following post ready to go, but severe internet access issues kept me from doing so.

Public libraries are wonderful things. I am not being sarcastic.

Some people might dare to say that society doesn’t need them. I disagree one hundred percent. Libraries are the only places where you can read books for free, rather than shell out money for them in a bookstore or online and then stick them on a shelf forever after you have finished reading them. A person who cannot afford internet service at their home can browse the web or use email for free. Libraries are also home to many great community events, such as story time for preschoolers.

That being said…

Some people bring their laptops to a public library during the day to work. I refuse to do so. Why?

Libraries, while having a reputation for being quiet, are too noisy for me to work.

The noise increases with the decreasing size of the library. I once used the internet in a very small library in a small town near where I live because the desktop I had back then was on the fritz. There were several small children present in the library, and their shrieking, shouting, and crying not only distracted me but also irritated me to no end.

There is also a lot of beeping in a public library as books and other materials are scanned before a patron takes them home, and there is typing on computers by the staff. These are two sounds that make me nervous. They remind me of cash registers, whose beeping and typing screams “Pay up!” to me.

People walking by also distract me. Of course, they have every right to walk around in a library (although they should do so quietly), but I have become used to working at home and wouldn’t want people walking by me at home while I work.

Finally, one is forbidden to eat or drink in a library. There are times when I just have to have my water or my Diet Mountain Dew with me.

How about you? Do you like to work in libraries?