Call it "Congress Envy." Seems that just about every federal agency has a library right there in the building. Libraries can be aspirational institutions, like those built in droves by Andrew Carnegie to uplift and educate those with limited access to books. They can be cultural treasuries, like the great library at Alexandria (Egypt, not Virginia).
Or, as some of us learned in college, they can be a good place to sleep:
I had to do some research for a speech at this massive federal
department. Someone said, "Hey, check out the department library. It is
a great place to find stuff you never thought you could find." So I
went on my way. Took me a about twenty minutes to find, but I finally
did. The library was quite nice. Books and magazines. Newspapers and a
helpful staff. It was also energy efficient by having the "motion
sensor" lights that only come on when you walk into that part of the
room. So here is where it gets hilarious (or sad). I walked into the
"stacks" and the lights flicked on. Then I saw it. Them. Four if I
remember right. Motionless so the lights were off. Four federal
employees sleeping in between the stacks of books. The light flicked on
and they began to stir, as if they were doing work. ... The
motionless life of a federal worker.
I've never seen a coworker sleeping in a government library, but my experience of the agency library is, shall we say, quirky enough that I am sure there have to be a lot more stories where this one came from.
