I really can not concentrate with constant noise and distractions around me and it is not because I am stupid, a bad person, or anti-social as "open plan" and "

I really can not concentrate with constant noise and distractions around me and it is not because I am stupid, a bad person, or anti-social as "open plan" and "bull pen" advocates like to claim. Last week I went to the local library. I hadn't been in a while. The card catalogs of course went away years ago and were replaced with computers. Computers are all now tied up by people playing video games, looking at porn, and doing web shopping. There are meetings going on, people drinking coffee, loud talking and debates, and some sort of classes. It's as loud as a gymnasium. By the time I found the book stacks which had been moved to the basement since no one was interested in them, I couldn't remember what I came to look for. There is a reason why libraries used to maintain protocols of silence, and the same reason applies to doing engineering design work.