8 ms·

In my (biased, but well-founded) experience, it comes down to a question of whether I'd rather be distracted by a cute girl or an old man getting reprimanded fo

In my (biased, but well-founded) experience, it comes down to a question of whether I'd rather be distracted by a cute girl or an old man getting reprimanded for looking at dirty pictures. [bg: I really like libraries - worked at one in the suburbs in high school and have since moved to the city, which exaggerated the weird bits] One thing that's worth noting: if you're on a college campus, a great place to find some legit quiet time is in departmental libraries, especially the social sciences.

rbanffy 16y ago
A couple years back, I decided to pay a visit to the campus library during the FISL (international free-software forum) that happens every year in Porto Alegre, Brazil on the PUC (pontifical catholic university) campus. I needed to grab some articles from CACM and their library has full access to the ACM online library, as well as decent wireless, something no tech event quite manages to have. Porto Alegre is notorious for having a disproportionate number of cute girls. I was on the Engineering floor and, even there, I got distracted several times by them. So, no, it's not every library that's cute-girl-free. Unfortunately, they don't serve coffee.
- Roritharr 16y ago
  Sounds like a good place to go study abroad...
  - ramchip 16y ago
    You'll have to refrain these thoughts. It's a catholic campus ;)
    - rbanffy 16y ago
      The good thing with catholicism is that there is always forgiveness for those who repent.
      - bobbyi 16y ago
        “When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way. So I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.” -Emo Philips
    - Roritharr 16y ago
      If you go to confession, you should come prepared.
    - dhimes 16y ago
      It's a George Carlin pun: "Johnson sends Humphrey a broad (abroad). Details, along with some wild films, after these messages." "Broad" is an old-fashion slang reference for woman in the US- much like "chick" became later. People who used the term "broad" non-perjoratively are well into their seventies now.
      - alexophile 16y ago
        I was under the impression that the only way to use "broad" non-pejoratively is in reference to the actual breadth of something. That being said, sometimes it's safer to study abroad from afar.
        dhimes 16y ago
        Yes, you can't say it any more... It actually fell out of favor long ago, but originally it wasn't considered all that bad of a term IIRC (I was pretty young).
        steveklabnik 16y ago
        It wasn't considered all that bad of a term at the time, but then again, at certain points in history it was socially acceptable to use a variety of ethnic slurs, so...
        alexophile 16y ago
        Right, I think that's more because, at the time, it wasn't all that bad to refer to women pejoratively.
        dhimes 16y ago
        For some reason I can't reply to alexophile and steveklabnik here, so I'll just leave this: alexophile: you may be correct about this- I'm too young to remember. But I heard it used by people who had no other signs of misogyny that I ever noticed, which is why I had that impression. Carlin was one of those people to the best of my knowledge. steveklabnik: But there are terms that you "can't use" now that were never perjorative. The scientific name for the race to which African-Americans belong is "Negro." Sometime in the '60s (I think) the leaders of this ethnic group took offense at the term. So, you can't say that somebody who used the term in, say, the '50s, was necessarily using it perjoratively (although you could make the argument that somebody using it non-scientifically in the '80s may have been).
    - elomar 16y ago
      It's in Brazil... even our catholic campuses aren't all that catholic ;)
- swah 16y ago
  I'm from Porto Alegre too, I graduated at PUC. Small world.
beagledude 16y ago
I've worked at the library quite a few times until I found a co-working space. +1 on the distraction comment.
mberning 16y ago
I came here to post this very thing. When I was working downtown I decided to go to the library during my lunch break. To my surprise there was almost nobody in the library actually reading. However, there were people on every single computer workstation. Glancing over the screens I could see a variety of pornographic images, facebook and myspace pages, and youtube. The library is a great resource, but I was completely pissed off that my tax dollars go to support that.
- JacobAldridge 16y ago
  "but I was completely pissed off that my tax dollars go to support that." People who can't afford a few hundred dollars for their own computer and the monthly bill for internet access? If you're looking at porn in the library, it's because you can't do it anywhere else, not because you're abusing tax dollars. Would I like the poor, the disadvantaged, the isolated to be using the library resources my taxes pay for to advance their lives? Hell yeah. Am I going to begrudge them - let alone get pissed off about - them using it to do the things I can do on my phone, on my way to the well-paying job? Hell no.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    > ...using it to do the things I can do on my phone, on my way to the well-paying job You really shouldn't watch porn on your phone while you drive. ;-)
    - dhimes 16y ago
      Well, we're not allowed to text any more so what do they expect?
    - jarek 16y ago
      Maybe he's on a train. In a personal compartment.
      - JacobAldridge 16y ago
        Actually, I was referring to Facebook, Myspace and YouTube (from the parent comment) more than the porn, though it doesn't read like that! And I don't actually have a smartphone, so the only thing I can do with my phone on the Underground when going to work is ... tell the time.
RickHull 16y ago
> In my (biased, but well-founded) experience, it comes down to a question of whether I'd rather be distracted by a cute girl or an old man getting reprimanded for looking at dirty pictures. Ha! Reminds me of my Brooklyn Public Library experience. The building looks fantastic on the outside, but on the inside it is a dreary, institutional wasteland. I had to pick my inspiration up off the floor when I walked in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Public_Library_by_DS.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Public_Library_by... After I located the one room with outlets, I crammed my way onto the folding table and connected to the flaky wifi, which needs to be reauthorized every hour. While answering emails, I could not help but notice the hardcore anime porn viewing session at the bank of workstations across from the table. I doubt I'll be back.
- mhb 16y ago
  The cost and monthly fee for a cell modem is pretty negligible compared to the benefit of a rent-free workspace.
  - RickHull 16y ago
    You still need power, though.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
- VolatileVoid 16y ago
  Try the new Battery Park City NYPL. Spacious, quiet, and while not awe-inspiring outside or in, it's certainly not dreary.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
bluekite2000 16y ago
"it comes down to a question of whether I'd rather be distracted by a cute girl or an old man getting reprimanded for looking at dirty pictures" : exactly my experience in SF public library vs a cafe in Mission.
ionfish 16y ago
"A great place to find some legit quiet time is in departmental libraries." This has been my experience too. My current favourite is the Earth Sciences library. It's in one of the older buildings in my university, so the whole place has a much more humane feel than the concrete box of the main library. There's also more space to stretch out, and it's not as busy.

rbanffy 16y ago

A couple years back, I decided to pay a visit to the campus library during the FISL (international free-software forum) that happens every year in Porto Alegre, Brazil on the PUC (pontifical catholic university) campus. I needed to grab some articles from CACM and their library has full access to the ACM online library, as well as decent wireless, something no tech event quite manages to have. Porto Alegre is notorious for having a disproportionate number of cute girls. I was on the Engineering floor and, even there, I got distracted several times by them. So, no, it's not every library that's cute-girl-free. Unfortunately, they don't serve coffee.

Roritharr 16y ago
Sounds like a good place to go study abroad...
- ramchip 16y ago
  You'll have to refrain these thoughts. It's a catholic campus ;)
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    The good thing with catholicism is that there is always forgiveness for those who repent.
    - bobbyi 16y ago
      “When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way. So I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.” -Emo Philips
  - Roritharr 16y ago
    If you go to confession, you should come prepared.
  - dhimes 16y ago
    It's a George Carlin pun: "Johnson sends Humphrey a broad (abroad). Details, along with some wild films, after these messages." "Broad" is an old-fashion slang reference for woman in the US- much like "chick" became later. People who used the term "broad" non-perjoratively are well into their seventies now.
    - alexophile 16y ago
      I was under the impression that the only way to use "broad" non-pejoratively is in reference to the actual breadth of something. That being said, sometimes it's safer to study abroad from afar.
      - dhimes 16y ago
        Yes, you can't say it any more... It actually fell out of favor long ago, but originally it wasn't considered all that bad of a term IIRC (I was pretty young).
        steveklabnik 16y ago
        It wasn't considered all that bad of a term at the time, but then again, at certain points in history it was socially acceptable to use a variety of ethnic slurs, so...
        alexophile 16y ago
        Right, I think that's more because, at the time, it wasn't all that bad to refer to women pejoratively.
        dhimes 16y ago
        For some reason I can't reply to alexophile and steveklabnik here, so I'll just leave this: alexophile: you may be correct about this- I'm too young to remember. But I heard it used by people who had no other signs of misogyny that I ever noticed, which is why I had that impression. Carlin was one of those people to the best of my knowledge. steveklabnik: But there are terms that you "can't use" now that were never perjorative. The scientific name for the race to which African-Americans belong is "Negro." Sometime in the '60s (I think) the leaders of this ethnic group took offense at the term. So, you can't say that somebody who used the term in, say, the '50s, was necessarily using it perjoratively (although you could make the argument that somebody using it non-scientifically in the '80s may have been).
  - elomar 16y ago
    It's in Brazil... even our catholic campuses aren't all that catholic ;)
swah 16y ago
I'm from Porto Alegre too, I graduated at PUC. Small world.

beagledude 16y ago

I've worked at the library quite a few times until I found a co-working space. +1 on the distraction comment.

mberning 16y ago

I came here to post this very thing. When I was working downtown I decided to go to the library during my lunch break. To my surprise there was almost nobody in the library actually reading. However, there were people on every single computer workstation. Glancing over the screens I could see a variety of pornographic images, facebook and myspace pages, and youtube. The library is a great resource, but I was completely pissed off that my tax dollars go to support that.

JacobAldridge 16y ago
"but I was completely pissed off that my tax dollars go to support that." People who can't afford a few hundred dollars for their own computer and the monthly bill for internet access? If you're looking at porn in the library, it's because you can't do it anywhere else, not because you're abusing tax dollars. Would I like the poor, the disadvantaged, the isolated to be using the library resources my taxes pay for to advance their lives? Hell yeah. Am I going to begrudge them - let alone get pissed off about - them using it to do the things I can do on my phone, on my way to the well-paying job? Hell no.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  > ...using it to do the things I can do on my phone, on my way to the well-paying job You really shouldn't watch porn on your phone while you drive. ;-)
  - dhimes 16y ago
    Well, we're not allowed to text any more so what do they expect?
  - jarek 16y ago
    Maybe he's on a train. In a personal compartment.
    - JacobAldridge 16y ago
      Actually, I was referring to Facebook, Myspace and YouTube (from the parent comment) more than the porn, though it doesn't read like that! And I don't actually have a smartphone, so the only thing I can do with my phone on the Underground when going to work is ... tell the time.

RickHull 16y ago

> In my (biased, but well-founded) experience, it comes down to a question of whether I'd rather be distracted by a cute girl or an old man getting reprimanded for looking at dirty pictures. Ha! Reminds me of my Brooklyn Public Library experience. The building looks fantastic on the outside, but on the inside it is a dreary, institutional wasteland. I had to pick my inspiration up off the floor when I walked in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Public_Library_by_DS.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Public_Library_by... After I located the one room with outlets, I crammed my way onto the folding table and connected to the flaky wifi, which needs to be reauthorized every hour. While answering emails, I could not help but notice the hardcore anime porn viewing session at the bank of workstations across from the table. I doubt I'll be back.

mhb 16y ago
The cost and monthly fee for a cell modem is pretty negligible compared to the benefit of a rent-free workspace.
- RickHull 16y ago
  You still need power, though.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
VolatileVoid 16y ago
Try the new Battery Park City NYPL. Spacious, quiet, and while not awe-inspiring outside or in, it's certainly not dreary.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

bluekite2000 16y ago

"it comes down to a question of whether I'd rather be distracted by a cute girl or an old man getting reprimanded for looking at dirty pictures" : exactly my experience in SF public library vs a cafe in Mission.

ionfish 16y ago

"A great place to find some legit quiet time is in departmental libraries." This has been my experience too. My current favourite is the Earth Sciences library. It's in one of the older buildings in my university, so the whole place has a much more humane feel than the concrete box of the main library. There's also more space to stretch out, and it's not as busy.