Gen Y Librarians make terrible shushers

I started work as an Information Services Librarian in September of 2008. This is my first library job which means that I have never worked as a shelver, on the loans desk or as cataloguer.  Apart from over sharing my history, what am I getting at? Lets just say that it is increasingly coming to my attention that I may not have the same skill set as other Librarians.  

Let me tell you a little story about shushing. A couple of years B.A. (Before Ashley) the Library tried to make our students feel welcome, feel loved and safe in our warm embrace. We relaxed the shushing.  Actually, I have no idea what happened, but this is my story. The students rebelled. Picture the scene from Beauty and the Beast - pitch forks, burning torches, wallwisher posts and long and specific complaints to desk staff. It’s exam time and people are talking on the upper levels which are zoned for silent study.  They are loud, hog tables and then reserve them for long periods while they go away for lunch. WE DEMAND JUSTICE!!!

They want us to become a big bunch of shushers. This is what lead to MissSophieMac and I creating the Library’s first ever Shush Patrol. We put on our name badges and walked upstairs. 

Holy crap on a cracker, we were not prepared.

I asked two people if they could move into the stairwell when they were on the phone to make sure they wouldn’t disturb anyone. I felt smug – I am Librarian hear me shush. I can shush with the best of them. I want to point out I wasn’t feeling smug that I was telling a student what to do, but rather that I had some Librarian skillz. Then everything started to go wrong. We heard people talking softly on a quiet floor. They weren’t in the silent area. To shush or not to shush?  On level three, neither of us knew what that floor was zoned as, so we checked a sign only to read that people are not allowed to use their phones in the stairwell!! Librarian Fail. It turns out that on tours for the last 2 years I have been giving out incorrect information. Level three is split between a learning commons type area and individual study area at the other end. Should that end part be quiet study? In the middle people on phones surrounded us. Do we shush them? Do we tell them to go down to level two? Do we shush people talking who aren’t quite in the learning commons area? Where do I draw the line?

What should I say to people on phones? “Excuse me, but you can’t talk on the phone. I demand you hang up immediately.”  Then do I stand there glaring at them until they hang up? Can we invent some sort of sound proof cone of silence so that I don’t have to say “I’m sorry but you can’t talk here. You have to go into the stairwell, down three flights of stairs and onto Level 2 before you can answer the phone. Oh and by the way, if you’re gone for more than 15 minutes I’m going to pack up your stuff and log it as lost property." It is just soooo awkward. What’s more awkward is that I also want to help students who need quiet areas to study. 

I have never been a shusher, usually I’m the one being shushed while in the library. 

(Photo Note: I can't shush, but I certainly can get a wee bit tipsy at a party and post for photos shushing. I blame Seb and my weakness for pink champagne)