The library faculty seeks to cut back on noise by using Quiet Zone signs and also seeks to keep their facilities clean by cutting back on the amount of food and drink that is permitted.
Green, Yellow and Red Zones have been differentiated throughout the library as demarcations of food and noise allowance.
Green Zones allow for covered cups and neat, quiet snacks and include areas such as BlitzMail terminals and study carrels.
Yellow Zones, placed in reading rooms, are quiet zones that limit personal music to levels that do not disturb others and confine cell phone use to stairwells.
"We wanted to be sure the library stayed a welcoming place," assistant librarian of the College Cynthia Pawlek said.
"We didn't want to just say 'no food or drink' like some libraries do."
The highest level of restriction is in the Red Zones that prohibit food or drink in order to protect areas that contain highly valuable, fragile, or expensive equipment. Red Zones include the Jones Media Center, Evans Map Room, Rauner Library and areas in Sherman Library.
The idea to implement the campaign came based on feedback from last year's LibQUAL surveys, discussions with students, and talk amongst library faculty and staff.
The program is also partially a response to noise complaints, according to Pawlek.
The library launched their campaign with a distribution of covered mugs in October 2005, during which library faculty handed out 2,000 such mugs to first-year students during the library's open house. The campaign also features mouse pads and table signs.
As a next step in the campaign, the Library and Dartmouth Dining Services are working on a partnership in which DDS would sell the reusable plastic mugs in Novack Caf.
For now, DDS is helping the library by discounting coffee for anyone who utilizes their reusable mug.
Pawlek said some students have voiced concerns that they are uncomfortable telling other students to be quiet, and she hopes the zone signs will help students feel less intimidated about policing each other.
She added that another goal of the program is to help students figure out which areas of the library are most conducive to their study needs, whether that be the quiet Tower Room or the more social first floor of Berry Library.
So far, it seems that students are receptive to the library's changes.
"It is always good to know there are designated places where you can go to study and you know it will be quiet," Walter Shin '06 said.
Jarrell Mitchell '09 also felt that the libraries restrictions will be for the best.
"I feel respect is being violated and I am glad we are taking more measures to protect our study spaces," he said.
The library established a food and drink committee to determine these restrictions.
