Open Letter to Public Library Patrons

Dear Fellow Public Library Patrons:

I have mistakenly assumed that we all have a shared cultural context for politeness and apporpriate behavior in a library. However, my experience today has demonstrated that some of you may need explicit instructions in regard to proper library conduct.

*Your "push to talk" phone is annoying while I'm grocery shopping. At library, it's downright abhorrent. Leave it in the car, please.

*You may only be 13 and half my age, but if you do the fake drop your pencil, turn in your seat to "pop your back" move to stare at me one more time, we're going to have a discussion that embarasses you more than it does me. I have no idea what insecurity of mine you're having a giggle about, but it's getting on my nerves.

*There's a setting on your cell phone. It's called "silent."

*In libraries we use our inside voice, even when it's to explain to our daughter how to use the computer in painstakingly simple but appropriate ways.

*Stop shaking your leg and shaking the table.

*When you talk with your I-pod earbuds in, you're probably being too loud.

That is all, for now.

Sincerely,

Me