How to behave in the University Library during exam week
It’s exam week again, which means the study spaces at the University Library on Vendelstraat are filling up fast. What are the unwritten rules of studying together? “It’s annoying when other people claim a spot, except when I do it.”
A neighbour noisily downing an seemingly endless supply of energy drinks while you desperately try to make sense of a dense philosophical treatise? Or returning from a break to find that someone has claimed your spot with a backpack, a banana peel and an empty coffee cup? Studying together can be enjoyable, but it can also be a source of irritation.
How are we supposed to behave in the university library, the go-to study spot for generations of students? A look at the house rules reveals that the guidelines for studying in the university library are open to quite a bit of interpretation: “All visitors must behave in accordance with public order, good morals and the prevailing standards of decency.” Three users of the UB Vendelstraat share their views on what order, morals and decency mean to them.
Chat in moderation
It might seem obvious that silence is required in the silent study areas. Yet there are exceptions, says Emiel van der Zwet, a student of urban history. “Although I would prefer people not to talk at all, a quick whisper is fine. I can find it annoying, but I do it myself too, and it’s part of the experience.”
Theatre studies student Brechtje Hartong van Ark is less forgiving. She would rather people didn’t whisper either, because not everyone is good at it, in her view. “Sometimes whispering can be a pleasant sound, but with some people it comes across as really shrill.”
Van der Zwet is most irritated by large groups of friends studying together in a silent study area. “When a group of nine or ten more or less takes over the space, they sometimes have full-on conversations without the slightest embarrassment. I think they dare to do that when they feel they make up the majority of the people in the room. I find that quite difficult.”
Food and drink: best avoided
When it comes to eating in silent study areas, there seems to be a consensus: zero tolerance. That doesn’t mean it never happens. PhD student Lotte Knijn recalls an unpleasant experience in the study hall: “I once saw someone in a packed study hall make a tuna salad sandwich and then eat it noisily, smacking their lips.” Needless to say, neither the sound nor the smell did much for anyone’s concentration. “The entire room smelled of tuna.”
Hartong van Ark believes that smell should also determine which drinks are acceptable. She has little tolerance for energy drinks. “No Red Bull. Just drink coffee instead. I can’t stand drinks with that chemical stench. The smell takes over the entire room, and it makes my teeth hurt just to smell it.”
Claiming a spot is generally antisocial
The practice of “claiming spots” is a contentious issue. A tried-and-tested method is to reserve a chair by leaving your coat or bag on it. Handy if you need to pop out for a lecture or want to save a seat for a friend, but it can also cause resentment.
Van der Zwet: “I sometimes put my coat and bag on the seat next to me if someone I’m going to study with is arriving later. I think that’s fine as long as there’s enough space. I wouldn’t do it during exam season, for example.”
Knijn feels that too many people reserve seats and longs for the days of the old university library on the Singel: “In the old library, there were signs saying you could leave your spot for twenty minutes. A rule like that would work well here too. There are simply fewer study spaces available, so I don’t think reserving seats is acceptable here at all.”
For Hartong van Ark, it’s every person for themselves: “It’s annoying when other people claim a spot, except when I do it.”
Leave other people’s belongings alone
It’s striking how many people leave their expensive laptops unattended in the study areas while they go to grab a coffee or stretch their legs. It’s common for the other students in the room to keep an eye on things in the meantime. At the same time, Van der Zwet notes, there’s a certain level of trust that your belongings won’t be stolen while you’re away. “Leaving behind your entire net worth to get a cup of coffee,” he jokes.
Speak up!
Rules aren’t really rules if they aren’t enforced. But how do you enforce “good morals” and “standards of decency”?
Knijn isn’t particularly keen on calling people out. “It’s difficult, just like when people talk in the quiet carriage on a train. If you say something, they snap back at you. There’s a fear of confronting others about their behaviour because you don’t want to spoil the atmosphere. Who am I to correct other people?”
Hartong van Ark believes that the reason she doesn’t speak up has to do with the new library. “I don’t feel as comfortable here as I did in the UB Singel. I once told someone in the old special collections room: ‘Finish your Red Bull out in the corridor.’”
Van der Zwet is usually willing to speak up. “It starts with subtle eye contact, then staring at someone just a little too long, and sometimes people don’t get the hint. Then I say something. If you don’t call people out on unwritten rules, those rules start to shift. That’s why I make a point of speaking up.”
