MOBILE PHONE USE: CHANGE OF POLICY
From Tuesday 5 May the Library is changing its policy on mobile phone use. One aspect of the Library which members value is the relative absence of the sort of personal distractions which can interfere with reading and quiet work. This depends greatly on members showing consideration for one another and we have recently come to realise, partly prompted by the impact of the Phase 2 building works, that in order to facilitate this we need to revise the guidelines we currently give about mobile phones and general conversation.
At present, as well as working in the reading rooms, members are naturally seeking out every spare desk available within the stacks to try to escape the noise of the construction activity and to read and work in peace. The main staircase is now the only route to Floors 1-6 and T.S. Eliot House and consequently much busier, and some stairs within the stacks are also in heavy use, with members still trying to work close by. In response to the requests from many members for restrictions on phone use we now ask that instead of holding conversations on the stairs or in the stacks you confine talking and mobile phone use to the following areas:
- Issue Hall
- Members’ Room on the 6th Floor
- Ground Floor lift lobby in T.S. Eliot House
- Areas indicated by “mobile-friendly” signs at the back of the stacks on the 2nd – 5th floors, away from reading desks
Please do not climb out on to the roof or on to fire escapes to use your phone.
We are most grateful for your co-operation. Members of staff have been asked to remind members of these new guidelines if necessary over the coming months until they become established practice.
