On March 28, the fire alarm went off in the library and students sat. Then they sat some more. One of them packed up their books and the rest begrudgingly followed suit. Upon reaching the front entrance the students were packed in tightly against one another and couldn’t leave in an efficient fashion.
While waiting to leave the main entrance of a potentially burning building some students looked at library staff for direction, as if to say “How dangerous is fire, really?” or “If I stay do I get out of doing this paper?”
Some students complained about the lack of direction from the staff. Apparently university students lack the critical thought to leave a building that may be on fire.
When a fire alarms goes off in an apartment, no one calls the landlord to ask what they should do—they just leave. The same should go for the library.
So students, when a fire alarm goes off, get out. It may be a drill, it may be a false alarm, but it is not worth the risk.
There are fire exit plans posted around all the building at Carleton and multiple emergency exits. The crowding at the front doors could have been avoided if students looked around at exit plans and for emergency exits.
The library, and the rest of campus, is designed to be evacuated quickly. Quick and safe evacuation, however, requires students to act with efficiency and awareness.
