Published on April 2nd, 2026
BY GRIFFIN STEELY
Cementing the library as a space to study or read, but causing a majority of the people who frequent the space to leave for other places to hang out around campus, Carmel High School has implemented stricter policies in the school library at lunch, break and office hours.
“There’s now a quiet study at the library during lunch,” says library media teacher Phil Crawford, who alongside library media technician Valerie Stack makes up the CHS library staff.
The number of students in the CHS library at lunch has dropped significantly since the library changed its policies. photo by GRIFFIN STEELY
At lunch, the library will be open to students who wish to work quietly, study in groups less than four or read, with a cell phone ban alongside strict rules on talking. Students who break these rules have been asked to leave the library, in some cases for days at a time.
“Because we’re at an academic school,” explains Crawford, “[Principal Libby] Duethman wants, and I agree with her, to have a place where students who want to study quietly can study quietly.”
The new emphasis builds on the policy enacted at the beginning of last year, when office hours and class periods in the library became a quiet study time.
Some students believe that having a library where students can study quietly on their own is a great idea, but it also raises concerns for those who want to study in larger groups, since the change in library policy, rolled out Feb. 23, has limited space for study on campus.
The new policies are not out of the blue, but driven by real concerns.
“The back of the library gets closed off at break and lunch because we had kids vaping back there and leaving garbage, and there was also vandalism,” says Crawford.
Although the new rules governing the library might be nice in theory, the change has drastically cut down the number of people using the library.
“You’d see a ton of people crowded into the library every day at lunch,” says junior Andrew Sutton, who frequented the library until he got asked to leave. “Now you see maybe three or four people in there.”
This change in population in the library largely comes from large groups of freshmen and sophomores, who used the library as a hangout spot during lunch, says Crawford.
“It doesn’t rain here very often, and there’s lots of outdoor seating, including the amphitheater, as well as in the cafeteria,” explains Crawford. “A lot of teachers let students in their rooms. It’s a hardship that you can’t play a video game on your phone while in the library anymore.”
When students do break the rules, staff is willing to ask students to relocate from the library.
“The consequence depends on the amount of times I’ve talked to them,” says Crawford. “If I’ve kicked them out already 12 times, or I’ve been talking to them for six months, then, yeah, this is your last chance.”
A large portion of the students who frequent the library are upset about this new change, which also bans cell phones in the library.
“They should let you use your phone in the library to help you study,” says sophomore Benny Geiss.
Since the library rules changed, students will only be able to use the library to study quietly or read during lunch.
