There is this theory I recently read about, which raises concerns about the increased health risk due to high radiation of the electromagnetic field (EMF) generated by wireless AirPods. If scientists happen to prove that excessive exposure to the level of radiofrequency resulting from wearing Bluetooth earphones twenty-four seven leads to irreversible neurological damage and cancer, I will definitely be the first in line to suffer because of it. But even if I wanted to limit my daily use of AirPods, I would have to stop going to the Maastricht University’s Inner City Library (ICL). Because any student who has ever gone there to actually study will confirm that, without noise cancellation or your favourite music facilitated by earphones, focusing in the ICL is simply impossible.
Whenever I go to this library, I cannot tell the difference between it and the Friday market at the Ruiterij. Sometimes I feel like the library is even louder – but the problem is that, amongst fruit and vegetable stands, shouting to inquire about the price per kilogram of asparagus is desirable. Amongst bookshelves in the library, it is forbidden. But apparently signs saying “silence” on every corner, printed in the largest font size on the Snellen chart (you know, that screen on the wall at the ophthalmologist), are harder to understand than that 300-page academic article written in 17th-century English for your next tutorial. For the love of God, if I see one more group of friends mistaking the ICL for Koffie or Espresso Quartier, I will genuinely start printing those “silence” signs and sticking them to their foreheads with superglue. If you really want to tell your bestie what you did with John on your date last night, at least go to the corridor. I do not want to hear it.
The overwhelming amount of noise generated by today’s world makes it hard to tolerate turmoil in a place where people are supposed to be quiet. Please be mindful of those who want to study in silence. And if lively places boost your academic performance, take your MacBook and go get that damn overpriced latte in a café. You clearly don’t mind turning the second floor of the library into a tapas bar, so I don’t think it matters to you where you study. But there are people to whom it matters.
Rita Wiśniewska, a third-year European Law student