Yup, that’s pretty much it. And that makes your degree more useful than most. 
If it’s got what looks like an eating lounge, then why not?
Our library has a big NO CELLPHONES sign, but I hardly ever carry a cell phone. For some reason I had one in my pocket the other day when I took my boys to the library. I think I had to go to the grocery store also that day and hadn’t had a chance to ask my wife if she needed anything, so I wanted to call her at work from the store.
Anyhoo, my two sons (3 and 7) and I are walking out of the library when a nice older lady asks if we’d like to go see a harp recital being given in one of the public rooms. I hesitated a little, because my 3-year-old can get kind of testy when he has to sit still, but we had no place we needed to be, so I said, “Sure.”
We sit down, the kids are behaving very well, and the gentle strains of harp music waft over us. One harpist was an older lady and one was a girl of about twelve who looked nervous to be performing in public. The room was almost totally absolutely silent…you could hear paper rustling at the library desk fifty yards away during breaks between songs.
Well, you can guess the rest of the story. The harpists started a song that was subtler than cotton balls dropping onto a piece of felt and then MY FUCKIN’ PHONE STARTED RINGING AND I REACHED IN MY LEFT POCKET AND IT WASN’T THERE AND THEN I REACHED INTO MY RIGHT POCKET AND IT WASN’T THERE EITHER AND THEN I REACHED INTO THE INSIDE POCKET AND FOUND IT BUT THAT POCKET IS REALLY SMALL AND I WAS TRYING TO OPEN THE PHONE AND GET MY HAND OUT AT THE SAME TIME AND IT WOULDN’T FIT SO I HAD TO MAKE A RUN FOR IT AND EVERYONE IN THE ROOM STARED AS I SHOT OUT THE BACK DOOR !!1!
The worst part was when I had to come back into the room to get my boys, who were still sitting there in silence. I’d have ritually disemboweled myself in front of the audience, but I had caused a big enough disturbance already, so we just left.
Wonderful post! 
You’re going to lose this battle. Cell phones have pretty much become so ubiquitous that people don’t even remember that they have them until it rings.
Back in the days when people wore digital watches, many of them had them set to beep on the hour. In testing situations, people had to be told specifically, multiple times, before the test, to silence their watches.
A sign on the wall just isn’t going to do it. Either someone is going to have to stand at the door and orally instruct each person entering to silence his or her phone (or something like they do in movie theaters, with the little comedy sketch about silencing your phone), or everyone is just going to have to get used to the fact that everyone’s phone is going to ring once before they remember to silence them.
Oh, and those “no typing/keyboarding in this area” study spaces? They’re going to go away too.
I like this idea. Sadly anyone who pays taxes feels they are entitled to free services worth 100 times more than the taxes they pay.
Still, I think this is worth the effort just to see the look on their faces.
Is anybody doing copies cheaper? Kinko’s? Staples? Office Max?
True. I’ve worked in retail a long time and too often going the extra mile for a customer isn’t worth it. When you voluntarily try to help in some area not really your responsibility it then magically becomes your responsibility and you’re stuck with the problem. Most often it’s better to smile and say “Sorry, that’s up to you”
Back in the days when people wore digital watches? Fuck, I give up, where’s that AARP application?
Yeah. The trend is for not wearing a watch at all The holdovers are wearing analogue watches. There are only a handful of Dwight Shrutes who never got over digital watches.
That’s me. Of course, when Dick Tracy wristphones are the new technological trend, I’ll be back in style, unless anyone expects me to make a phone call or watch porn on it.
I can’t watch porn on a wristwatch. The image won’t stay still.
Actually, our cafe is not really configured like that. One walks down a hallway. On the left are doors for various meeting rooms, and on the right is the gift shop and used bookstore, and bathrooms. All the way at the end, on the right, are the doors to the cafe. And there’s a sign that says “No outside food allowed”
It’s just that some folks have such a big sense of entitlement they figure they can doo whatever they want, and if they’re pushy enough we’ll give in. Like the woman who took us to task because we wouldn’t use our microwave to warm up the burrito her kid had brought in. “This library has too many rules!” she huffed.
Here’s the *anti-pitting *to this thread:
The coolest man in the frickin’ universe, AKA Pilot Sully, contactedhis local library to let them know that he wouldn’t be able to return a book because it was in the cargo hold of flight 1549.
Topic of book: Professional ethics. 
I’d like to know how much the cost was to pay the Wisconsin courts to reach such a vital decision. I’m willing to bet the cost of paying the judges, attorneys. court personnel, etc. was more than Wisconsin made back in .10 or .25 a copy.
This being America, I assume a lawsuit lead to this vital piece of legislature.
You win the thread.
So, she thinks the cafe is part of the library, then.
I’ve known I was a holdover for a long time, still clinging to my lovely analog watch. I didn’t realize I was that much of a holdover that digital watches are now considered “the olden days”.
I’m only 33. Though I do see a lot more white hair around my temples these days…
I think widespread wearing of digital watches was a passing fad, not a full-fledged step in the arc from no watch --> pocket watch --> wrist watch --> no watch.
…You know, ascenray, I have noticed that you have been deathly serious lately. Has your normal sense of humor gone south with the geese? I haven’t heard a joke out of you at all!
Slightly off-topic, hope that’s OK.
It’s probably sleep deprivation affecting my brain. And worrying about the economy. I’ve been laughing at Reno 911. That’s my level of humor right now. I don’t think I’m up for anything more subtle than the Three Stooges.