On Nov. 5, a new rule was instituted in the Matthews Library: no talking allowed.
After librarian Joanne Melinson sent out a poll on Sept. 14, the main library was changed to a quiet space instead of a lively one. Nearly 85 percent of high school students voted in that first poll, according to Melinson. With this new setup, the main library became quiet, and the original “quiet” room became lively.
When Melinson became the librarian, the library had always been a quiet space until “I gave out a survey in 2007, and people wanted (the library) lively,” Melinson said. “Almost no one wanted (the library) quiet.”
The library stayed lively for almost 11 years until more and more people wanted it to go back to its original quiet state, according to Melinson.
Some students, however, prefer the lively library and are unhappy with the new decision. Freshman Miles Morrow, for example, feels that the old system worked fairly well for a long time and that Country Day needs a place where students can sit down and talk.
Senior Nate Jakobs agreed, and he set up a petition so the main library would be lively again during his free period.
“My free period works better in a group, and we prefer the previous library setup,” Jakobs said. After Jakobs showed Melinson the petition, students in his free period were allowed to talk in the main library again.
Though many students want the library to be lively, many others, such as Anu Krishnan, want it to be quiet.
“I prefer (the library) quiet because then I can get my work done,” Krishnan said.
Now that the library is quiet, more rules have to be made about what happens if students talk in the library.
“We usually give people a couple warnings before asking them to leave, which we occasionally have to do,” Melinson said. “They are usually welcome back the next day to try again. If it becomes a habit, we may ask students to try again in a week.”
The results of the poll sent out by the Octagon were, 47 percent wanted the library lively, 36 percent wanted it quiet, and 15 had no preference, thus showing a change in opinion from Melinson’s Sept. 14 poll.
Most recently, Melinson send out a third poll, asking the same question yet again, but the results have not yet been tallied, according to Melinson.
—By Dylan Margolis
