As a Matter of Fact I'm Not Trying to Eavesdrop on Your Special Project

Michael usually gives me several hours to myself once a week, and during that time I often go to the public library to be alone and to read. As often as possible I sit down under a tree, or at the picnic table, but I find that after a little while this seating arrangement starts to give me a backache and I am forced to make my way inside. The problem with going inside the library to read is 1) you can't take your mug of water in with you because there are no food or drinks allowed, and 2) it's so darn noisy in there. I mean it.

I've tried sitting in various locations. Yes, it is a library, and yes, it is fairly quiet. But the Tuscaloosa Public Library, much like my own house, is small enough that there are few places you can go within that aren't adjacent to some noisy interactive area, be it the reference desk where patrons confer with librarians stationed there to assist them, or the balcony that looks out on front door and checkout counter where they have to speak to you, or the tables with their uncomfortable chairs. I suppose I could hideout in the non-fiction stacks, but that hardly seems appealing. The problem is that the library is quiet enough that it is impossible (for me at least) to avoid eavesdropping on other people's conversations, whether they are interesting or not, and typically they aren't all that interesting. And typically I really am trying to read, and this requires concentration.  I'd take a noisy place over the public library if I could, but where else can I find more desirable books than I can ever read combined with a lack of pressure to purchase anything? College days are long over.

Finally on Saturday I found a quiet place to read. It was the history room which contained the sign, "This room is for quiet reading only." I wondered if I were actually allowed to go in there. The Reader's Advisory librarian was sitting right there where I could have asked her, but I never could quite catch her eye and I thus decided I'd take my chance on being kicked out of the room at some later time. Occasionally I believe there are activities and meetings that take up said room, but from now on I'll probably try to make my way there at every opportunity, now that I know where to find a quiet place to read at the public library.