Asimov, Isaac. Foundation and Empire (New York: Avon, 1966, c1952) 224 p.

Trantor was once the capital of the galaxy. After the great sack its economy reverted to farming but the University was spared the ruin that befell the rest of the planet. The University Library remained intact mainly because no one much cared about it. Until a scholar came to try and discover a secret of the galaxy.

The library was a deceptively small building which broadened out vastly underground into a mammoth volume of silence and reverie. Ebling Mis paused before the elaborate murals of the reception room.

He whispered—one had to whisper here: “I think we passed the catalog rooms back a way. I'll stop there.” (p. 198).

There are no librarians so Mis works alone.