[Yes, attrition does take its toll. It was just my luck, locally at the Main Library here in New York, that the person with whom I wished to converse had just retired and the young woman who took his place, a newly-hired college graduate, had limited experience but clearly lacked the "institutional knowledge I sought. I told her when I showed my wife around the richly appointed Rose [study/research]huge Room upstairs, she smiled pleasantly, and whispered in my ear: "Ba'am fait ti ba pou ou," loosely translated as, "Let me give you a little kiss." Apparently, with her love of architectural detail, she had never seen a pair of simple though huge, study halls [outfitted with oak tables and brass incandescent lamps] so vast, tall- windowed, high-ceilinged -- and quiet, all you'd hear is the occasional rustling of turned pages. [Computers on the study side, through which tourists are directed, are outfitted with headsets, or you may bring your own.]