In praise of silence

OK, silence in a public place is probably asking too much. But is "quiet" possible in our public libraries?

Ellen Hansen, a resident of suburban Hillsboro, submitted an op-ed piece that I was only too happy to run in Sunday Opinion this weekend.

Entitled, "Shh! It's a library, not the corner coffee shop," the piece gave voice to the frustrations many of us experience when visiting the library.

An excerpt:

"(A) fellow comes in, sits down at the table behind me, pins his ears back and tucks into a tub of cottage cheese, smacking his way through a tall can of pineapple slices as a side dish. He then slurps a half-gallon of orange juice to complete the performance. As choral accompaniment in this flu season, a symphony of sniffs and snorts, coughs and throat-clearings chimes in all around me."

Am I being a curmudgeon? Or is the kind of behavior, and the kind of noise level, we have to tolerate?

Photo: Multnomah County Central Library by Brent Wojahn, The Oregonian