There’s nothing quite like a warm nap, snuggled under a blanket and in complete silence during a rainy day. Be sure to double check your iCollege for that beloved “class is canceled” message and after four elevator beeps that feel like an eternity, you’re there—a napper’s paradise, the Library’s fifth floor.
Venture out towards Library South, past the work desks, and you’ll see it: he burgundy red chairs aching for your embrace. Using college-level engenuity, six chairs were pulled together to became three nap stations. They’re ready to cradle any grad or undergrad in need of a gentle afternoon sob, nap or both. You might be lulled into a sleep so deep that even the library security can’t wake you up.
“It’s two o’clock in the morning and we’re about to close,” security guard Kyndall Newkirk says to you, motioning to the empty library, prompting you toward the exit.
Newkirk said she has been campus security for the past four years and when it comes to sleeping on campus, as long as it’s during business hours, it’s not against any policy.
“It’s not against the rules to sleep in any of these buildings,” Newkirk said.
Venture further into the fifth floor and you will see students asleep in not only the chairs but in the aisles of bookshelves, hidden behind the columns on the ground. Maybe on a jacket, or depending how difficult their day is going, face down.
Listen carefully and you might be able to hear the acoustics of iPhone’s default alarm tone and the quick rustling of belongings before that aisle is clear and up for grabs again, ready for the next desperate, sleep-deprived student to stumble in.
One of these nappers is Heaven Kim. Kim naps almost every day on schedule. She’s never had a problem with her nomadic napping lifestyle until recently when her beloved spot behind the pillars on the fourth floor was discovered.
“Someone was already there,” Kim said. “I hate it when my spot is taken. I’ll give them a dirty look if they take my spot.”
Kim doesn’t nap for necessity, she goes to sleep at 8 p.m. She said she mostly does it because it “helps pass the time.” She thinks napping is great and said, “Everyone naps.”
Luckily, the nappers aren’t alone in their fight. Madison Mitchell describes herself as a “nap ally.”
She said because she lives on campus, she’s never had to resort to sleeping in the library but she respects those who aren’t as lucky.
“I am a full supporter of napping and I know that not everyone can go home and nap,” Mitchell said. “I would probably nap in the library if I didn’t have a room.”
Mitchell aids the nap movement by supplying her bed to her friend who lives 45 minutes away. Without Mitchell, the napper would be left wandering, fighting for an empty aisle in the library.
“My friend didn’t live on campus but she had classes in the morning and had a couple hours gap before her job. So I’d let her in my room everyday to nap for like three hours. Everyday,” Mitchell said. “Yeah, I’m an ally. A nap ally. That’s what I am.”
So the next time you’re three Saxby’s cups deep after a late night which unexpectedly turned into an early morning, you won’t be alone. There is always a cold, quiet place welcoming you to Dreamsville. Take a trip up the elevator and for today’s nap, maybe venture into the astronomy section.
Set your alarm, find a spot with the least questionable stains and get ready to nap, because no one—not even campus security—can take that away from you.
