One of the classic gags from the TV show Get Smart (only slightly behind “missed it by that much” and well ahead of “sorry about that”) is the Cone of Silence.
For those of you too young or too uncultured to know the show, the Cone of Silence was a device that Maxwell Smart always insisted on using when sharing sensitive information about a case.
The gag, of course, was that it never worked. People at one end wouldn’t be able to hear what the other person was saying.
But despite the gag sometimes people need to talk about things and not have people be able to listen in. Or maybe you want to record something, and you don’t want to hear the sound of the fridge running, the baby upstairs crying, the dog next door barking….
That’s the inspiration behind the Tumbler Ridge Public Library’s new pod. On the surface, it is a big white box with glass doors on one side, with a table and seating for four people inside—two on each side.
And, according to Head Librarian Paula Coutts, that is basically what it is. “It is a sound dampening pod, or sometimes cube. The pod can be used for recording podcasts or by people who need to have a quiet background. It is also good for people who need a confidential meeting space.”
She says the library was initially looking at getting a single-person pod. “It was quite pricey and quite limited in terms of use,” she said. “We asked the vendor about a larger one, there is a two person pod, there was also a four person pod, which is the one we’ve purchased, using an enhancement grant received from the Province of BC.”
She says while the library is a community hub, there are no meeting rooms in the library. “This has stopped us from helping some people in the past,” says Coutts. “It’s also stopped us from inviting Work BC to come, because they need to have a place that they can do private interviews in. We’re hoping this can be used by Work BC in the future.
“But if parents have children on the spectrum, they sometimes need a quiet space, to get away from all the noise that’s going on and all the activity in the library. They might want to sit down and read a book, or, you know, just kind of tone everything down for a little bit.”
What’s the cost of something like this to the public? At the moment, it’s free to use during library hours. “We may have to charge if we end up enabling people to use it for podcasts after hours. So in other words, if I have to bring staff in, when they’re not normally scheduled, we may have to charge at that point.”
She says they may need to implement a refundable deposit to book the space. “That’s for a couple reasons. The first is so that it’s not abused. We’ve had a lot of people—mostly young people, asking if they can use the space. When we tell them it’s for people to record podcasts, they’re saying they have to do a podcast. It’s urgent that they do a podcast, but mostly they want a quiet space to play with their phones. And so a refundable deposit of a significant amount might stop some of that.”
While they’re still figuring out some of the details around usage, the pod has already been put to use. “The inaugural use was the best use it could have been,” says Coutts. “A couple called saying they had unreliable internet service at home, and asked whether there was a private space in the library from which they could do a Zoom call with their physician. And we told them they could come in and use it. So they came in, they were here for about an hour and a half or two hours, doing a Zoom call with a specialist. It went very well, we couldn’t hear them.”
Shortly after, they had someone who is training in a medical field, who had to do an interview as part of their coursework with a patient with a chronic condition. “They did an interview in there for about an hour again. And again, we couldn’t hear. That’s an ideal use of the space. It means they didn’t have to go out of town. They didn’t have to rent a meeting room. Or use their unreliable internet at home or call the doctor back numerous times.”
While the space is well soundproofed, there is little else in there. The lights come on automatically (and go off automatically after about twenty minutes, something Coutts says they’re trying to figure out) and a power plug for people to plug a laptop or other device into. “We will be monitoring how it gets used,” says Coutts. “I foresee a need to have a laptop available if people need to borrow one.”
For now, the glass doors will remain unfrosted, although there has been some talk about putting up a privacy screen. “It’s set up so people can’t directly see into the pod unless they were to go and stand in front of it, and at this point, people in the pod can’t see the adult computers, and people at the computers can’t see what they’re doing, because the orientation is different. But if we discover that privacy isn’t being maintained, will get a proper screen.”
For now though, Coutts says they don’t want to make too many permanent decisions, as the library is in a state of flux. “We will be getting some more pieces of furniture. Also funded by the same grant, so things may move around over the next few months.”
The library has already installed a self-checkout/RFID system, and will be renovating the children’s section.
“It’s quite a significant renovation,” says Coutts. “We’re putting things on wheels, mostly because we have to transition what the space is used for. The library space is far too small for the use that it gets. And we are maxed out on space. The pod gives us a private space, which we haven’t had in the past. Now, casters will make Itchy Feet and other adult programming much easier because the furniture in the middle will be on casters, so staff won’t have to pick up and carry furniture in and out.
“In addition, we’re getting new shelving for the children’s area. We’re also replacing our old four person study carol, and we’re getting three “Hush Pods” which look like study carols, but have floor to ceiling sound baffling.”
When will all this arrive? “We have asked for them not to be delivered before Santa’s visit on December 3rd for Holly Jolly. The pod came from Edmonton, the study carols are coming from Winnipeg. And the shelving is coming from Ontario. So, we pretty well covered the country.”
Still, because things are entering the holiday season, some of it might not get done until early next year.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
