Molly Ashline
 Staff Writer 

The ninth floor of the Jackson Library at UNCG is by far my favorite in the whole building. Not only can you get a bird’s eye view of the fountain at the caf and the surrounding foliage, but the sunlight glows pleasantly through the windows throughout the day, and at night, darkness blacks out the rest of the world to create a soothing isolation. Also, floor nine is a quiet floor.

It’s the perfect nook for the studious and silent. Or, it should be.

See, when I take the elevator up to the ninth floor, which I always do, because I’m not walking up all those stairs, the first thing my eye catches when that big metal door slides open is a nice round sign that reads—quite legibly—“Quiet Floor.”

Now, I understand that “quiet” can be interpreted differently. That’s why I don’t really get upset if someone munches on the crunchiest food in existence or taps their pen repeatedly on one of the desks.

But quiet should probably mean little to no talking, especially when there are five other floors of the library that are set aside for “group study.”

More than a few times, I have gone to the ninth or one of the other quiet floors to study for a class, write a paper, or finish a Carolinian article, and at some point during my time there, people have been talking—not even whispering—on the phone, or they have gathered a study group.

The problem with a study group is that when one group of people starts talking, other people on the floor feel that it is also fine to talk; so in a matter of minutes the quiet floor is that in name only.

It may seem like I am just making a fuss over behavior that is not that outrageous, but annoyance with people talking is not based on trivial reasons.

For some people, these library floors are the only places to go to study in silence.

Not only are most of the buildings on campus noisy, but in home life, there are screaming children, screaming roommates, barking dogs, et cetera to contend with when trying to study. All those distractions can divert attention away from classwork and result in a negative performance in those classes.

After all, that is the fundamental reason why we are at UNCG—to learn and excel academically. If the only way a person can accomplish that is through silent study, then others should respect the space made available for that explicit purpose.

And once again, I will mention that there are five other floors of the library that people can study in groups (in addition the rest of campus), so there should be no excuse for gathering on the quiet floors.

Plus, there is nothing wrong with silence.

In the words of the late, and sometimes great, Thomas Carlyle, “Under all speech that is good for anything, there lies a silence that is better. Silence is as deep as eternity. Speech is as shallow as time.”

I guess I will be quiet now.