There was silence in the library, and people were reading quietly.

There was silence in the library, and people were reading quietly.

The library is quiet, very quiet.

There is silence in the library, and all the students are studying hard. We usually say that when it is particularly quiet, it can be said that there is silence, and even a needle can be heard falling to the ground. What we usually mean here is that we can hear a small sound and set off the silence in the library.