Megan Robinson
News and Web Editor
Hoover Library has made many changes this past year, the new study spaces, the website redesign, and the latest addition, the silent floor. The newly designated silent floor began this semester for the first time.
Jessame Ferguson, Hoover library director, said she received several request for a designated area for concentrated study. These requests gave her the idea to create a space that was to be completely silent for students who want to study free of noise distraction. This floor is aimed towards individual workers, not groups whose collaboration can be disruptive to surrounding students.
However, Ferguson said that the student rooms on the floor are still meant for collaborative group work and those working in them do not need to be silent. Ferguson does ask that students be aware that the study rooms are not sound proof, and to please be mindful of the noise level while in them.
The silent floor is designated by signs on every entrance to the level announcing its noise restrictions. Ferguson stressed that while the floor’s policy will be mostly self enforced, it is to be taken seriously. Any students that do not comply with the policy after a warning by a library staff member will be removed by campus safety.
Ferguson said level L was the most advantageous choice for the silent floor because it has the least possible distractions. It is the only floor isolated from exits, which could create more distractions as students flow in and out. Also, the floor is more isolated from the other floors; it does not open to another floor like the third or second levels. Additionally, Ferguson wanted to choose a floor that was less trafficked, both to free concentrated workers from the distraction of roaming students and to avoid inconveniencing students who want to work more loudly on a particular floor.
Ferguson looks forward to the implementation of this new floor policy, and observing how it will address students’ needs. However, she says she still wants to adapt the floor further to make it even more beneficial to silent concentrated study.
In the future she hopes to add glass sound proof doors between the study rooms and the rest of the floor, to better keep out the noise of the group rooms. Additionally, she hopes to add more large desks for students who want to spread out their work while studying.
