Who's Shushing Whom?

As I walk into the library for my biweekly day of volunteering, I'm met by Trudy working the circulation desk. 

 I get the usual smile, followed by a "Hello!" She isn't loud, but it's the kind of greeting you would expect anywhere. Anywhere that isn't a library that is. 

Taking a few steps closer to the desk, I quietly answer back. Signing into the volunteer book, I notice that I'm whispering back the small talk. Years of childhood conditioning and an overbearing high school librarian really seem to have done a number on me and I realize that talking above a whisper within the library comes as a real challenge for me. 

As the day continues, I find myself in the children's section resolving some books. Within a few minutes, that old familiar sound comes back. Shh. 

 Looking up, it's clear that this isn't coming from a librarian, but rather a parent trying to keep their child quiet while playing with the bead maze. Naturally, the child continues chattering, squealing, and making the typical noises a child would make anywhere. Even in a library. Naturally, the shushing continues. 

Hang out in the library for a few hours, or even minutes and you'll hear plenty of shushing. The funny thing is, none of it is coming from a librarian. Despite the cliche image of the old librarian stamping books and shushing everything in her path, libraries across the country are dropping the shush. It makes sense. Shushing is not only rude, unwelcoming and annoying in its own right, but it's also quite unnecessary. As an area of public space, a meeting place for parents or simply a place to enjoy books, the children's area isn't exactly a study hall. Heck, even the adult section is basically a shush-free zone. 

Want peace and quiet? You'll find it at the library. You just might need to book a study-room. Otherwise, it's a simple fact that in order to maintain relevance as well as uphold basic tenets of customer service found in successful private sector establishments, it doesn't do a library any good to stifle conversation that isn't downright disruptive. I almost appreciate the fact that the practice of shushing is almost self governing.

 The next day I'm in the library again, but this time not as a volunteer, but with Lily again. She's got a hold of some puzzles and an Eric Carle board book. As she finds another book, she yells "daddy, look!" 

"Shh…" Some habits never die.