I think that there needs to be installed soundproofing material in the studyrooms.
It is very distracting when people are nearly partying in the study rooms. Many people tend to forget that there are still in the library and that students are hard at work. I personally have troubles thinking and developing ideas coherently when there are loud sounds, so it makes it very difficult to work in the library at times due to centrality of the study rooms and the occupants in them. Therefore the best solution would be to install soundproofing materials in the study rooms so there may be conversation in the study rooms but no distraction to students working hard.
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Josh, thank you for this comment and I'm sorry that you're experiencing noise issues with our group study rooms.
Kellogg Library has a unusually large number of group study rooms, which, while great on the one hand, creates a higher than typical noise level in some areas of the building. These rooms are are in almost constant use - combined with growing Library use in general, we are experiencing an overall increase in building volume.
While your suggestion to install soundproofing is well taken and would go far towards addressing the issue, with approximately 50 rooms and limited funds for renovations it is almost certainly a cost-prohibitive solution. Over this summer, we are instead developing several strategies to help manage noise levels in and around our group study rooms - these including employing students who regularly conduct sweeps of our upper floors and triage noise issues as needed, and creating visible signage that indicates the appropriate sound level in different Library spaces. Last but not least, we'll offer free disposable earplugs at our Library services desks on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
I hope that these strategies prove useful!