Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Library in Today's Noisy Culture

Today in class we discussed how our society has become obsessed with noise. Background noise, or "white noise", seems necessary for us to function in our day to day lives. Think about it: When you're writing a paper or cleaning up your room, do you turn on the TV or listen to music, not because you want to watch or listen to something, but because you just want to hear something, anything?

Also mentioned earlier today is the fact that libraries are no longer sacred places in terms of silence. Having previously worked at a library I've witnessed this first hand and can confirm that, yes, it has everything to do with technology. From cell phones, to computers, to the fact that people are now checking out DVD's instead of books, libraries have become social hot spots instead of places of study and quiet contemplation. The more the technological realm intrudes upon that world, the more it gives way to the noise our world is falling prey to.

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