FAQ Friday: What's with the (obnoxious) buzzer, anyway?

Lately, FAQ has noticed that the library has become a second home for many students. That’s fabulous, glad you found a corner (or a table, or a couch) to call your own. After all, that’s why the library is here. Along with increasing traffic, we have noticed a corresponding increase in questions. FAQ is here to answer one that has come up virtually every day since classes resumed after spring break (and fairly frequently before then, too).

Q: What’s that noise? What does that buzzer/bell/ringing mean? Is it a fire alarm?

Basically the same question, asked in different ways.

A: It’s the closing bell.

But what does THAT mean to ME, you ask? It’s pretty simple.

The closing bell (or buzzer, or whatever you want to call the strident noise) signifies that the library will be closing soon. The buzzer goes off twice – 15 minutes prior to closing time, then again briefly when the library is officially closed. We ring the bell to remind everyone that it’s time to start about packing up. If you hear it the second time around, you are about to be locked in the building.

The bell is serious business. The library staff can’t run around personally notifying every person in the building that closing time is near, that’s just not efficient staff usage and let’s face it -- we’re all adults. We don’t have a public address system either, so we can’t personalize the closing process (really, you should be thankful we can’t do that).

PAY ATTENTION TO THE BELL

• When you hear it, be aware that it’s time to finish what you are working on, not start something new. The closing process begins when that bell rings, and we don’t generally offer extensions.
  
  
• If you plan to check materials out, consider taking care of that before you hear the bell, just in case there might be any problems (fines, etc) to resolve.
  
  
• When you hear the bell, it is the time to save your work, print what you need, and log off the computers. And remember, the computers are primarily for academic work. Don’t expect anyone to be happy about waiting around while you finish updating your Facebook or MySpace page after the closing bell sounds.

FAQ realizes how this all sounds – militant, and vaguely Pavlovian. Maybe that’s true, but when library services end, the building closes and everyone has to leave. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.

Please, pay attention to the bell. If you don’t, we might have to resort to something stronger, like water balloons. Or Tazers.