Tapping pencils, loud music playing from AirPods 20 feet away — to the point where everyone around can hear "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons playing — and gossipy phone calls are only some of the factors that I consider before deciding to study at an ASU library.
There are several reasons why there is a responsibility to stay quiet in a library, such as students cramming for exams, finishing homework or commuters finding a place to rest after a busy day of classes on campus.
However, there are some who believe they are above the law of the land, although not enforced by the school itself, and wish to bring a great plague to the calm communities of libraries.
The library is like a monastery for University students — speaking is minimized, meditation is encouraged and studies are the No. 1 pursuit.
When I have overdue assignments or an exam I'm woefully unprepared for that's due in the next four days, I need quiet to ensure I can get through a grueling study session about material I won't have to apply outside of the lecture hall.
When that silence is broken, you have failed the congregation.
"I went a couple of months ago to go study up on the 4th floor and that's the one where you absolutely cannot talk and there was this couple," said John Uhl, a freshman studying business administration. "I was at the right side of the library with all the books and you could hear them over there and then I moved to the other side of the library and you could hear them no matter where you went."
Uhl said the fourth floor of the Hayden Library observes a vow of silence. The lower floors are for folks who choose to fraternize rather than engage with their studies.
READ MORE: A student's guide to the renovated Hayden Library
If you are wanting to socialize with your friends, there are floors where you are not the loudest conversation in the room. I recommend you take your podcast to the first floor, or any floor where studying is not the biggest priority. If you can't find the willpower to move a conversation away from stressed out students ... shame.
Uhl said a group of eight students once came to the library to merely socialize.
"It's not exactly what the library is for, like you're here to study, not to hang out, especially at Hayden Library of all places, when it's nighttime too," Uhl said. "Couldn't you be anywhere else?"
For a student's convenience, there are cells that anyone can reserve that are soundproof — but not really — and away from the greater student body.
Please use these. That's what they're designed for.
Hansika Peethala, a freshman studying computer science, said academic tours can also be distracting for students within the library.
"I'm like, 'Guys, come on, I'm studying,'" Peethala said. "I have my earplugs on, and I can still hear them."
If you end up in this precarious situation, like Pittala, you can calm your fury by having some noise-canceling headphones on standby and a calming elixir — maybe matcha — in case the headphones don't work.
READ MORE: Ditch that cup of coffee: Top 5 matcha cafes around ASU
Peethala said scholars must respect their peers and judge their surroundings.
"When you see people are focused, I think you need to quiet the tone down," Peethala said.
Arnav Wavre, a sophomore studying biomedical engineering, shared this belief with a different situation.
"If you're just attending an event on Zoom that's totally fine," Wavre said. "When you're in the actual meeting and you're talking loudly, I don't think this is the place for it."
I love libraries. I love being around books and my studies. Yet, this agitating noise echoes in the library, and I sit still with the meanest side eye I can muster.
In all honesty, if I have to be in the vicinity of one more group hangout, one more filled study room without a reservation or another person next to me conducting a Zoom meeting, I am set in my new faith: We need to bring back public shaming.
Editor's note: The opinions presented in this column are the author's and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
Edited by Senna James, Sophia Ramirez, and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at gheadle@asu.edu and @George_Headley7 on X.
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George is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is his third semester with The State Press. He has also worked at Times Media Group.
