Remember the sign in your public library when you were little? The librarian's frown certainly reinforced it—she was always older than the sign—but to me the public library had a hush that made reading even more a sacred occupation.

Now that libraries have become media centers, with an interactive bustle, I wonder what they have done with the signs. I would love to have a few to house in appropriate places.

I would like one to end the din from the "drum" bangers on the subway platforms. I don't mean the real musicians but the fellows who have no drums, only empty plastic buckets which produce a racket more than sufficient to rouse the dead. I admire their energy, but not the accompanying timpani.

I also want one for the restaurants where the music level makes all conversation impossible or leaves one with a sore throat from shouting. Background music is nice. Music that fills the background, the foreground, and all the air space in between is painful.

I want to wave my sign before the subway riders who share their CDs with the rest of us. I shudder to think of what is happening to their ear drums in the process.

I want to hold up my sign at the religious zealots in the 42nd street tunnel who are determined to have my soul even though I am working on that process full time. They shout after each passerby with a vengeance: "Are you saved? If not, you are going to hell!" It is loudly embarrassing, even though I do admire their determination.

Do we need music in elevators? I like to ascend in silence, and I don't mind holding on the telephone without music to assure me that I am not forgotten.

I know our government is trying to save us from death by overeating, and hence there is a movement underway to post calories in eating places. Could we also post decibels in public spots? I know it isn't really possible, but all that early childhood reading introduced me to places like Oz, and Xanadu and Ruritania, those dreamlands of geography.

I remember an architect telling me once that, as we were planning a school: "You don't want an absolutely quiet place. You want to build an acceptable level of background noise, so that the slightest foreign sound does not startle."

So, should be campaign sign read: "Quieter, please?"