by Michelle Harper Davies

Created on: March 05, 2008   Last Updated: July 06, 2010

For most, libraries are productive, quiet buildings where one can read, work or experience some much needed escapism in a great piece of literature. For others, a library is something else completely. It is a haven of mischief and fun, a place from which to poke fun at those who think a library is where one can work, read and escape. And, oh, what fun can be had in a library!

There are three types of library pranksters - those who practice extreme irritation techniques, those who are seeking mild annoyance for a quick laugh and, perhaps the most annoying and funniest of them all, the serious patrons who don't even realize that they are indulging in annoying behaviours. So, let's begin with the most unsuspecting of pranksters - the serious patrons. This group usually consists of college students in the throes of research; mothers using their precious spare moments to search for the perfect escapism; and old people scouring the large print section for one, just one, book that they haven't read already.

College students spend 40% of their on-campus time in the library, doing thesis research, exam revision or writing essays (the rest of their on-campus time consists of 10% in lectures and 50% in the union bar). As a college student, the easiest way to annoy your fellow patrons is to sit in a busy aisle, your legs reaching across the walkway, surrounded by piles of yellowing books and dusty air. Not only will you be in people's way but you will also cause patrons to inhale the book dust and cough uncontrollably, ensuring they are ssshhhhh'd' at by the librarian. Double whammy!

Another simple tactic encompassed by the college student in the depths of research cramming, is eating. The average teenager sustains themselves on junk food when away from home; therefore the obligatory packet of crisps mid book is guaranteed to send others slowly insane with the sounds of packet crinkling and crisp crunching. In order to increase the irritation factor, why not pull a few sandwiches and cans of red-bull from one's rucksack? Noise + Energy drink= Maximum irritation + lots of work completed. But, of course, what goes up must come down and what better way to recover from the sugar high than a quick nap. Those loud, slurpy snores are guaranteed to annoy the more hard-working and wide awake library users.

It is impossible to walk into a library nowadays and avoid the "No Mobile Phones" signs emblazoned across the entrance in round, red warning posters and on any unburdened wall

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