Bring back shushing librarians

According the Pew study, quiet matters more to library patrons than special programs for kids or job-search resources or access to fancy databases or classes and events or spaces for public meetings. It matters more to them than the ability to check out e-books or engage in “more interactive learning experiences” — areas that many library experts seem to regard as top priorities for the libraries of the future.

African-American and Hispanic respondents to the Pew survey rated the availability of computers and Internet access in libraries more highly than whites. The library has become a godsend to lower-income citizens who may not be able to afford their own computers at a time when society has become ever more dependent on them. But 89 percent of African-Americans (as well as 81 percent of urban residents and 81 percent of women) also consider quiet to be a very important provision. Poor people don’t just feel the lack of pricey communications tools. If you live with family members in crowded conditions, it isn’t easy to find the tranquility to read, study or write — which makes it that much harder to get the education you need to improve those conditions.