Get a room

I often study in one of the little study rooms on the fourth floor of the library. It’s quiet up there. Usually.

One of the problems though, is that it’s sometimes counterproductive because when groups are studying in those rooms, the sound travels. The walls are about as thick as doctor office walls – they’re basically made of paper.

Another problem is that professors occasionally hold classes in those rooms, often for seminars or classes with only a few people. When the prof signs up to use one of the rooms, he can stay as long as he wants, whereas students can only stay for two hours at a time (or occasionally more if it’s a slow time or early in the semester). You’d think that with oh, I don’t know, about 30 classrooms on campus (of course students can't study in the classrooms because they're locked or in use) but only about 10 private study rooms for students, the profs would hold class in a classroom, but I’m thinking the reason they don’t is that it’s effort to reserve a room through official channels while getting a study room requires nothing more than signing up at the circulation desk. This is annoying. Why can’t these guys leave the rooms for the students. (Oh and by the way, what's the deal with the students who study just outside the private rooms? It's easily the loudest place in the library so why choose to study there? I don't get it).

Unfortunately lately one professor who has the world’s loudest voice – this guy sounds like Charlie Brown’s mom on steroids screaming into a megaphone – has taken to holding classes up there almost every time I am there. He doesn't talk; he yells. He's an elderly fellow, so maybe decades of teaching has caused his voice to be 100 times louder than it needs to be. If it's loud for me and I'm separated from him by a wall, I can't imagine how loud it must be to actually be in the room with this guy. Anyway, I wish someone would put a muzzle on this professor…