silence in the library

So, what do you go to the library for?

Prohibido gritar, pegar e insultar en la biblioteca — Which still leaves a lot of options.

I think most of us go to read books, refer to works of reference, borrow books to take home, use the computer facilities etc. But it seems that either other people have other motives, or they get a lot more het up and argumentative than I would expect.

That’s the only explanation I can see for the sign displayed in the library at Navarredonda. For those who don’t read Spanish, it says:

IT IS FORBIDDEN
TO SHOUT, HIT OR
INSULT
IN THE LIBRARY

(The Spanish actually says “and” rather than “or”, but I think that’s a grammar thing, and doesn’t mean they approve of you doing any two out of the three.)

I particularly like the fact that it is written in “all caps”, which many computer users will interpret as shouting.

It’s reminded me of a cartoon I saw, probably twenty-five years ago, with the caption Conan the Librarian. Mind you, the sign does seem to rule out what Conan claimed was “best in life”: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women. Of course, I wouldn’t go to the library if that was what I was planning to do.

(Thank you to Andrea, at Madrid Mediation, for the photo.)