San Diego Public Library Observation

On 13rd of October, at 3:57p.m., I found a seat next to the ceiling window on the ground floor in the San Diego Public Library and started my observation. The whole floor is surrounded by the ceiling windows which allow the allow luminance of sunlight to shine deeply into the library. My location was facing both the children’s library and the area which serves a branch of CD and DVDs. On that day, the library was also holding a mini exhibition names as the “Guardian Spirit Sacred Sculpture from the Continent of African”. Even though there are three wooden bookshelfs displayed orderly between my location and the children library, I can still clearly observe my target who is located in the children library.

The library was not as quite as I expected on

that day. The silence was broken by the screaming and yelling which came from a boy around 5-7 years old in the children library. The boy complained about his mother who forced him to do his homework and did not allow him to play the computer. He shows his discontent and resentment with his exaggerating body gesture and noise.

Surprisingly, his mother who was sitting next to him did not try to show his impolite and disturbing behavior, she simply crossed her arms and leaned back. Her facial expression only showed me her frustration and helpless with his little boy.

Soon, he caught the attention of a young pregnant woman who was standing in-front of the bookshelf and checking out the book of “New Parents Advice” with his husband. The women is around 30-35 years old, wore a low-heeled shoes with a big belly; while her husband showed people a mature feeling with his beard. And it is hard to tell how old is he. I can hear their conservation clearly since they were standing behind the bookshelf next to me. The couple was having a conservation about how to divide the work on taking care the upcoming baby in the future. Their conservation is full of love and with an air of expectancy. She always touched her belly gentlely and stretched the top of her head toward the ceiling while she was reading the book of with his husband. Their simile told me that she is so excited to meet their new born baby. However, her sentiment and emotion immediately affected by the disturbing atmosphere. The boy

seems didn't intend to stop his barbarous behavior at all and people around him started staring at both him and his mother. Yet, no one dares to stand out and tells him to stop. And I guess because the location of the children library is separated by the rank of book shelves, therefore, the librarian in the front desk didn't realize the situation and teach him a lesson. On the other hand, the pregnant woman started knitting his brows regularly and looking away. It is very interesting when you see one’s facial expression changing dramatically within a minute. no doubt, the noise’s of the boy not only made her feels extremely annoying, but also worrying. I wonder she was worried about how to educate her upcoming children after she saw the rebel behavior of that boy who was screaming in the children library. Probably, she was picturing her future as a mother in her mind. What made me feel more happy was that, the husband immediately showed his consideration to his wife with holding her tightly and showing a warm and nice smile. The scene was really touching and it also created a strong contrast with that noisy and annoying environment at that time. Everything simply happened within 5 minutes, however, at that moment, the San Diego Public Library has already inscribed an unforgettable first impression with full of sweet and sorrow to me.