Facebook in the Library

             It’s nine o’clock in the morning and I just get out of my government class. I immediately head for the Blinn library knowing I have homework from the night before that I did not get to complete. I walk through the doors expecting to get down to business, as most of us do, yet there is a problem in the library. I walk around the outskirts of the library’s interior only to find every computer occupied by a student. Now, this is an understandable inconvenience under normal circumstances, but I become frustrated when seemingly every student on the library computers is on the infamous website, Facebook.com. 

            Do not get me wrong, I am a Facebook junkie at times and I know the effects that come along with joining the site. I know that the social website helps me stay in touch with family and friends, but I also know that it further enhances my ability to procrastinate…or put things off altogether. However, there is a time and a place for Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. That place is definitely not at the library when others are waiting for you to get off of the computer so they can complete their academic endeavors.

I read a review in the current issue of Newsweek magazine about the new Jesse Eisenberg film, The Social Network. In the article, the author talks about how people who have signed up for Facebook have become shallow and sometimes feel aimless or isolated; therefore continuing their use of the website. He also mentions how it is turning us into lonely people who feel like we have to rely on this social network to feel connected to the world, even if that means spending hours on end on the site and wasting valuable time that could be geared towards other important things.

I sat down with Mary Castle, one of our Bryan campus librarians, and I had to ask about her opinions on the website and if she sees it as a problem in the library.

Mrs. Castle says that, “Facebook has a range of effects that are helpful to many people,” and that there are many pros and cons when it comes to this issue. While she has noticed students saying “bad things” about other people through Facebook, she does not think that it directly affects academics in the library. Mrs. Castle believes that programs like YouTube, traditional e-mail, and instant messaging are very similar to Facebook and only keeps students “preoccupied.”         

When it comes to the issue of computer availability, Mrs. Castle says most of the time the librarians will ask any student sitting at a computer to volunteer to give up their seat. This act helps eliminate any waiting time for other students, and if the wait does continue the librarians usually will direct them to other available open computer labs on campus.