Cheers for quiet

Re “The ‘shhhhhh’ manifesto,” Opinion, April 10

It was a relief to discover that I’m not the only individual who uses the library for reference, reading and writing. Whether I’m in Los Angeles or in the Pennsylvania countryside, where I reside part of the year, some of the libraries I attend have become echo chambers of cellphone rings, raised voices, snacking and, in some cases, singing in the reference sections. By the way, it’s not just “young people” who make noise. I’ve witnessed ages 5 to 85, male and female whooping it up in the stacks as well as the reference area.

I have repeatedly complained to librarians that loud behavior of any kind should not be acceptable. Yet the librarians should not have to be the silence police or be confronted by people who refuse to adhere to rules.

MAGGIE SCHMIDT

Tafton, Pa.

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Because she lives in Mount Washington, Miller may be pleased to hear that the very near Highland Park branch is still a lovely, quiet library. Maybe the mistake was to go to “a lovely library in one of Los Angeles’ leafier suburbs,” where people’s sense of entitlement is absolutely deafening.

RICHARD HARRIS

Los Angeles