October 20, 2014

Page 1

Monday, October 20, 2014 Aric Powell (Left), a freshman athletic training major, and Lauren Rouse (Right), a freshman pre-med major, relax in the library’s chairs (Photo by Cicara Moore).

Shannon Martin, a senior psychology major, works on schoolwork in the library (Photo by Cicara Moore).

Dan Ferguson, a senior accounting major, studies at a library table (Photo by Cicara Moore).

Indiana State University www.indianastatesman.com Volume 122 Issue 25

Library disturbances a nuisance MAKYLA THOMPSON Reporter Students have filed complaints against other students for being disruptive while in the library. The library is a place that everyone on campus goes whether it’s to get away from the dorm, work on a group project, have a study session, find books or a quiet place to study. Students who go to the library to study say that sometimes it’s too noisy and there are some cases where the students are being harassed while trying to get their work done. Heaven Smeelink, a sophomore art education major, said she has had horrible experiences while trying to study in the basement of the library. “About a week ago, I got a study room and I was trying to finish a paper, and for some reason people thought it would be very fun to be excessively loud, knocking on the door of my study room when I was trying to edit and make sure that my paper is finished on time,” Smeelink said. Smeelink said she tried to ignore the problem by sitting with her back

turned to them, but even that didn’t work so she asked them if they could stop. “I really hated it because it was me just trying to work on my art education papers, and they thought it would be funny to knock really loud and put their face in the window,” Smeelink said. “I opened the door and politely asked them to go away and they did for about 20 minutes.” She also feels that people who are disruptive should have to leave the library. “I feel that people who are disruptive should be escorted to a different part of the library were they are allowed to socialize,” Smeelink said. Ghizlane Kasmi, a graduate student studying business, has experienced the opposite of Smeelink. “People are noisy 20 percent of the time,” Kasmi said. “When people are noisy I get a single room, and no one bothers me in there.” Gregory Youngen, the associate dean of library services at Cunningham Memorial Library, said he is willing to work with students to make sure they have the best studying experience

while at the library. “We have noisy floors, and we have quite floors, and if students are bothering other people we ask them to quiet down and that’s the policy,” Youngen said. “We ask that students refrain from whatever behavior is bothering people, and if that is still a problem usually the next step is to call campus police.” The library has floors for socializing and silent floors meant for studying, as well as private study rooms. Events are often held at the library, so it’s expected to be noisy at times. “There are times in here when it is really noisy, the first floor, and the second floor where we have open areas,” Youngen said. “So we tolerate that [because] the students tolerate that, but if anybody engages in any kind of behavior that’s threating or disruptive to other people that’s when the library staff needs to be informed to do something about it.” In order for the library to deal with disruptive students, patrons should inform the library staff.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.