Let me set the scene for you. You have a massive test next period. You have option and you want to study a little more. You want to go to the library but you get stuck in a huge traffic jam in the hallway and arrive too late. All the library slots are filled. That’s okay, you’ll go sit and study in the cafeteria. You sit down to start studying and distractions immediately start to occur. Somebody is gossiping in front of you, people are yelling about video games behind you and the middle schoolers are losing their minds on the other side of the cafeteria. There is no way you are getting anything done with all of this noise.

Glen Rock High School’s Media Center is a quiet and peaceful place that helps students complete their work more efficiently. Starting this year, the cafeteria and option classes have limited how many students may go there to do their work. If you don’t get there fast enough you could be flat out of luck. There are 10 spots available to option students and 10 spots available to the students with their teachers absent.

However, it feels like the library could be more full. Even at capacity, there are open seats. The 20-person limit seems too small. There are still open seats left at the limit. Out of the students I surveyed, 98 percent want to use the library during their free periods and 90 percent of those students have been turned down more than once. Often students only want to go to the library because the senior lounge is full and it’s difficult to focus in a crowded setting. Especially when you are surrounded by your friends and peers.

Out of the students I surveyed they all had some sort of remedy for the problem. From increasing the limit, focusing more on sound control, or a signup sheet you can sign up on in advance there are many ways we could solve this issue.

“I think that there should be no limit other than the number of seats, if noise is an issue I think the noise level should be enforced not the number of people.” Senior Abbie Manley states.

The noise is the problem we are battling and is the reason the limit was put in place. However, the library is not a social zone. If you are going to the library, you better be doing your work because it’s not fair to the kids who need to do their work for you to go there and play video games with your friends. Do that in the cafeteria.