Each level of Middleton Library is quieter than the one below, and with soft chairs on every floor, students may find the building to be a good place to rest their eyes between classes and before exams.
Director of Library Communications and Publications Sigrid Kelsey said Middleton has no policy about students sleeping at desks or among the rows of books.
“I think we had to ask someone to move that was sleeping at a computer once and taking up a space, but no, I don’t think it’s a problem,” Kelsey said. “I’ve worked in three college libraries, and I think it kind of goes along with being a college student.”
Petroleum engineering sophomore Zachary Clay said he fell asleep for a few hours on the second floor one morning last semester before he took his chemistry final. He put his head down on his desk and got some shut eye.
“I was at the library at 11 a.m. the day before, and I had studied all day and all night,” Clay said. “I passed [out] from like 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. I woke up in the library and had to go take my test. My friend didn’t say anything, he just let me sleep.”
Once, an older man fell asleep in the library, and students gathered around him taking photos as he was stretched out in a chair, said Brittany Jackson, pre-pharmacy sophomore.
“It was pretty funny, but he was unbothered just sleeping his life away,” Jackson said. “But I’ve never fallen asleep in there. I’ve spent long nights in there, but I’ve never fallen asleep in there.”
The library opened its bottom floor 24/5 this school year, allowing anyone with a Tiger Card to stay in Middleton overnight.
During the library’s extended hours, most people have been in the building between midnight and 3 a.m., Kelsey said.
Mitch Fontenot, information literacy and outreach services librarian, said he has never had to wake up any sleepers in the library and didn’t think people slept in the library very often.
“There was once a gentleman who we believe was homeless. He was out on a bench there for a significant stretch of time,” Fontenot said. “I don’t think I’ve ever woken up anyone who fell asleep at a computer and so forth.”
Middleton Library is one of few libraries in the Southeastern Conference available to students for 24 hours a day. Texas A&M University’s on-campus library is open 24/5, and the University of Alabama’s is open until 2 a.m., according to both school’s websites. The University of Mississippi’s library is also open until 2 a.m. on weekdays.