Perhaps it's the expectation of near silence (you might work together but you'll keep your voice down) and lack of visual noise in the library? In my open plan

Perhaps it's the expectation of near silence (you might work together but you'll keep your voice down) and lack of visual noise in the library? In my open plan office I have: - People walking past my desk - People walking behind me - People walking in front of me, over the "wall" - A team that regularly has stand up meetings behind me - Coworkers that talk loudly at their own desks, near mine - Coworkers that talk loudly in a small more private area, ~10ft away - A small meeting room with a door that doesn't isolate noise very well - A kitchen ~20ft away with a loud espresso machine Plus, I'm in a large room and can hear conversations up to 50ft away. Given the number of people, there's nearly always one happening. In a library, you've got a quiet space with an expectation that people will keep their voices down. Study desks often have high walls in the front and to the sides, to block out visual noise. They're also often isolated from major traffic areas. Libraries are designed to optimize intellectual work and study, open plan offices are absolutely not.