Only Eating Posh Puffins

Call me a fuddy-duddy but I like quiet libraries - I turn off my phone whenever I go - the silence seems to swallow any outside anxiety and that is its beauty. Now it seems that in the name of progress libraries should become fun places where you can laugh and joke and generally carouse as if in the pub. Think of the quiet of a traditional library, the distant thump of a window being closed, the heavily filtered sound that is the mix of traffic and all other external sounds. Our library has a coffee bar outside but it has tables and as far as I know you are not allowed to bring purchases into the bit with all the books (that would be the "library" - ed.) We have Internet access but the machines have headphones. We have the really intellectual bit upstairs with all the reference books. The only time that sound is allowed is toddlers' story time though I've never been to that so I can't tell how loud that actually is.

As a bonus, the article by Victoria Coren also links to her own website here. Anyone for a quick round of The Platell Game?