How often does housekeeping clean the guest computer area? The desktops are dirty and people don’t throw their trash away when they leave.

 Although this question is more specific to the “guest computer area” in Tuttleman opposite the Paley Circulation/Reserve Desk, it is worthwhile to share some general information about the frequency of housekeeping services for Paley Library. Although at peak times of operation it may seem like Paley isn’t being cleaned regularly, the answer to the question is YES. Paley Library, like most Temple buildings, has a regular, daily cleaning schedule. A crew is assigned to clean up the Library every evening, even on the weekends. This is true of Tuttleman as well.

During the day hours, especially on the weekends, the degree of housekeeping service is much more limited. For one thing, it would be extremely difficult to clean the furniture surfaces, floors, empty trash, etc. when the library can be quite packed with people using the resources. There are skeleton crews that work their way through different buildings to tackle any challenging mess. So depending on what time you arrive at the library, the degree of traffic in the building that day, and yes – whether the people who use the library make an effort to remove their trash – can impact on the state of cleanliness you will discover.

Unfortunately, while we wish every person using our Libraries would remember to dispose of their trash in the right place, you are likely to encounter a mess left by someone else from timt to time. Given the amount of mess created in Paley every day, we really appreciate the great job our housekeeing staff does to keep things clean here.

The prospective and new student tour groups need to adjust their meeting spots in such a way that minimizes the impact upon those attempting to make use of Paley Library. Currently, the tour groups tend to mob the self-checkout machines, drop boxes, and leisure Reading sections severely impacting and often preventing their usage.

Thanks for sharing your concerns about the impact the new student tour groups have on the first floor of Paley Library. We too have observed this problem in past years, and we have repeatedly contacted the office that supervises the tours to remind the students guiding them that they have to be aware of where they are in the Library, and to be careful not to create an access barrier for students wanting to use the self-checks, get to the stairwell or whatever it might be.

I will take two actions in response to your complaint. First, I will send a reminder (and your complaint) about this to the the person who supervises all the campus tours for prospective students.Second, I will send a reminder to our staff members who work at the “Ask Here” desk asking them to remind the students leading the tours to keep pathways to doors, collections and equipment clear when this becomes an issue.

To what extent these actions will improve matters I cannot say – hopefully quite well. I can only hope the student tour guides will remember this. In the future if you or other students have a problem being created by one of the student tour groups, keep in mind that you can ask the groups to move aside, or work your way into or around it, or ask a librarian to assist you.

But do let us keep in mind that these tours are important, and that we want our prospective students to come into the library. Let’s just hope we can have it be less of a barrier to access for you other students.

The issue of the need for more electrical outlets has been addressed in a previous post to our suggestion blog. You can read it here. 

As was indicated in that earlier post, we’d love to add more outlets to meet the needs of students who need to power up or charge their technology devices. As we noted:

Adding a lot of outlets is impossible in the current building since we are now at full electrical capacity and cannot add any more circuits to existing panels. 

So unfortunately we have no easy solution here. If you are planning to study at the library, charge up your device ahead of time. Get to know the areas of the libraries where more outlets are found. And by the way, please be careful about those power cords. We really want to avoid having someone get hurt because they tripped over your power cord.

Why are students allowed to use cell phones in the library and Tuttleman? It seems to go against the whole concept of a library. When people talk in the corridor between the two buildings and in the elevator lobbies, it echoes and makes studying difficult. I shouldn’t have to move as not to be bothered by cell phone users in the library and Tuttleman.

Thank you for sharing your concerns about noise in the library. We have responded to this type of suggestion previously and I will point you to our response. Please read it for more information on this matter.

In general, this is a problem not only in libraries but all types of public places. We speak frequently to our colleagues in other large, research libraries. Those that have posted signs prohibiting cell phone use have found them ineffective. If someone wants to talk on their cell phone, they will. The good news is that more people are being sensitive to this issue and either take their cell phones outside or talk in a quiet voice so they won’t disturb others.

As our prior post suggests, you can do three things. One, seek out our quiet zones and do your library work there. The area you mentioned is heavily trafficked so it tends to have more noise and activity. As in any public situation, if someone is being loud and disturbing you, please ask that person to be quiet or go elsewhere. Most people are not aware they are disturbing others and will be glad to comply. Third, if you prefer not to speak to that person, go to someone at one of our public service desks and report the situation. Our library staff are ready to speak to patrons about these noise matters or any other situation that makes it difficult for you to do your work in the library. We will do our best to create and keep a library environment that is productive, secure and inviting for every member of the Temple University community. If it isn’t working out that way for you, please let us know.

A good number of lockers should be available some where in the library, so if students wanted to keep books in the library overnight (and possibly longer) they would be able to do so.

Thank you for sharing your suggestion about offering lockers in the library. There are academic libraries that offer lockers to students, and there certainly is some utility in offering students the ability to store books or personal items while in the library. Short of saying “We tried this before and it didn’t work”, perhaps the best response to your request is that we’ll look into possible options for offering lockers. A few things to share:

1) Did you know that Paley Library had lockers when it first opened? You can actually still find some of these (no longer operational) lockers on the south side of the 2nd and 3rd floors. Many others were removed long ago. Why were they removed? That’s the “it didn’t work part”. Students would routinely store books without checking them out, so many books were thought to be missing. Additional staff time was then needed just for locker checks – not an efficient use of staff. And students would also store perishable food in their lockers leading to oders and insect problems. But perhaps a better system can be devised.

2) Is this a wise investment of University funds? You have probably heard by now that the Temple University Campus 20/20 plan calls for a new library building. While that is not yet finalized, if we were to build something new that would become operational in three or four years, does it make sense to spend a considerable sum on lockers that would be in use for just a few, short years?

3) We would want to avoid allowing long-term lockers; at best day-only lockers might work. One concern is the loss of valuables that students might store – such as a laptop or cellphone. This became a problem with the original Paley Library lockers.

We can certainly explore the options and costs, see what other university libraries are doing and then make recommendations to the University’s facilities management group. It’s not clear if adding lockers is necessary – we don’t get many requests for them. But we will look into it. Thanks for your suggestion.

It’s really cold in here. Can it be at least a little warmer? It doesn’t have to be this cold.

Ah, if only we were able to achieve the ideal temperature setting in every area of Paley Library. But given the nature of our 165,000 square foot facility, and the idiosyncrasies of our heating and cooling system, were we to ask facilities to come and warm up the building, we might regret that the very next day by experiencing too warm temperatures. While we do our best to regulate the temperature across the entire Paley building, there are going to be situations where it may be too cold or too warm for individual preferences in any particular spot in the facility. But it would be a challenge to warm up or cool down any specific zone without perhaps affecting the temperature in another zone. The Temple University’s facilities department regulates the building temperature on a seasonal basis. This can be a challenge if it is unseasonably warm or cold for a few days.

If you find the area where you like to study a bit cold from time to time, bring along your favorite hoody. And if you do want us to follow up on what you think is a particular problem, please be sure to let us know exactly what part of the Paley building you think needs a temperature adjustment. We will then follow up.

I’m sitting here using a computer and there’s a group nearby that is kind of noisy and they’re watching a video with loud music. I’m reluctant to ask them to stop. I don’t want to get into a confrontation. What can I do to get some quiet in the library?

We want your visit to and time spent in the Paley Library to be productive and peaceful. In other words, we want you to have a good library experience – and we want you to tell others about it and come back again. So never hesitate to let us know what we – and by “we” that means any library staff member at any desk or at work in the library or someone in our administrative office on the mezzanine level – can do to make your time in the library more satisfying.

Were you in one of our quiet zones? The computer commons on the first floor west (13th Street side) is not designated for quiet study so you can expect more noise there. However, we do ask everyone to use headphones if listening to music or any type of audio. If someone is creating computer noise that is disturbing you feel free to ask a library staff member at any service desk to intervene on your behalf. There are quiet zones throughout the Paley Library. Many of the quiet zones have computers. You can also borrow a laptop or netbook computer from the Circulation Desk in Tuttleman for use anywhere in the library. Take a computer to your own quiet spot.

In the future, consider simply asking your fellow students to hold down the noise, especially if it’s a quiet zone. Most students are courteous and will be glad to comply with your request. If that doesn’t work or you would rather not ask, again, seek assistance from a member of the Library staff.