Escape the noisy and crowded cafeteria to the quiet and peaceful library. Dartmouth High School’s library is now allowing lunch in the LMC. But, before you can eat in the LMC, it is required to get a lunch pass before your lunch shift has started. There is a limit on how many students can eat in the library for each lunch shift, but this hasn’t been a problem yet.

This new option started a month ago in September. DHS Librarian Emily Goodwin said, “A lot of students use this option as a working lunch.” Students come to the library to work, and this new option allows students to eat or study in a quiet area during lunch shifts. 

Lunch in the library is a way for students to experience lunch without the chaos in the cafeteria. Ms. Goodwin said, “It’s an alternative to lunch” for students to use this time for working or studying while eating. “It took a couple of weeks to adjust,” she said, but this new change makes it a lot easier for students to multitask during their lunch shift.

The most important thing to remember about having lunch in the library is to pick up a lunch pass before lunch at the beginning of the day. “Students are supposed to get passes before lunches,” Ms. Goodwin said. Passes are distributed in the library by one of the librarians. By picking up a pass in advance, this will warn you if the library will be at its maximum capacity for a student’s lunch shift or not.

“Sometimes we have teachers who hold a spot for their class, but so far it’s worked really well,” said Ms. Goodwin. If a lunch shift has been taken by a teacher or a class, a pass will not be issued and students are told to stay in the cafeteria. This hasn’t happened yet but students shouldn’t be surprised when it does. 

There are usually only 20 people, mostly students, in the library during each lunch shift. It’s extremely quiet, so quiet that students can hear other students eating or moving around. Most students use their Chromebooks to complete work or research while others just eat. Emmie Parker, a junior, said, “If you have to do some homework or study it’s a great option.” She really enjoys the option of eating in the library because some of the lunch shifts that she has “are so packed it can be stressful to find a seat.”

This is true for many students who have lunch shifts that are crowded, where it’s hard to find a seat. Parker said, “I see a good number of people there, some studying, or some just in a group because there was no room in lunch.” The library is a perfect spot to escape the cafeteria for a little while and allow students to have some quiet, productive time.

There is a lot of hope with this new change at DHS and many students will be taking advantage of this option. “I like eating in the library more because I can get some work done, I can talk to my friends, and I don’t have to worry about finding a seat,” Parker said. So grab a lunch pass and enjoy a trip to the library the next time you need some quiet time in your diet.