old school
Sunday, Nov. 14, 2004 @ 8:18 p.m.

on the desk beside my computer:

"Have consideration for your fellow researchers!
DO NOT access your personal email if there are others waiting for stations. Library Online Stations are provided to support learning and research through access to library collections and other information resources.
First priority must ALWAYS be given to those users conductiong academic research."

i'd thought the kind of education you can get on the internet is dirty rather than high-priority. and i'd thought checking my email for a reply from my TA was important. and i'd thought with all the research books at the library, kids would be more likely to read them than sit in front of a screen to stare at the (possibly useless and virtually unnavigatable) gross amount of information on the world wide web. because if they're not, it's time to re-evaluate the necessity for a five floor mega-institution with a billion lights and digitally controlled air pressure and humidity, specially designed to preserve and harbour: books. it makes me feel bad enough to go looking for one to read, right now. a bonus? if i were to research something or other, my time and indeed life (what use is there for time without a life in which to pass it?) would be more valuable than the life of someone here solely to check their email.

all of this, according to the sign.