Where are there places to read in Washington, DC?

Outside of a library: where have you found, in DC, places that are very good to sit down and read. I'll take suggestions for places that are slightly noisy, to places with comfortable chairs, to places that are quiet.

Thanks for your help!

Side note: I tend to read after dark, and during winter too...so if there are some indoor places as well, I could use them.

But I like the Park/Monument suggestion.

In addition to the suggestions here:

The Post Office Pavilion, just off Pennsylvania Avenue. Lots of space here, although not a lot of comfortable benches and such.

The Martin Luther King Memorial Library. - You don't have to be using the library's books to read here. It's across the street from the Gallery Place metro stop.

The Smithsonian Castle. Lots of places to sit and read in here.

The Freer Gallery Loggia.

The U. S. Botanic Gardens. Free to get in, surrounded by flowers, no pressure to leave and both outdoor courtyards for spring/summer reading and an indoor hall with benches where you could sit for a while.

The Gardens on the mall - especially the Enid Haupt Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle and near the Sackler Gallery and African Art Museum.

The National Cathedral. In the sanctuary, but also in the viewers gallery and Bishop's Garden, as well as in the basement near the gift shop. Lots of space here.

The Lobbies of some of the great hotels in the area.

Someone suggested Union Station - I have to second it, mostly because it's open in the evenings, which is the biggest problem here.

Kramerbooks and Afterwords near DuPont Circle. Open 24 hours a day, this is a bookstore that encourages reading when you are here.

The national Museum of the American Indian. Benches on all levels - comfortable space in their restaurant and in the center, as well as all the wonderful spaces outside.

I dont live in DC but my dad does and I go down to visit him a few times a year and I always find the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials to be pretty peacful.

when i went there i usually just sat down in the parks and read

or in monuments and stuff

but man i forgot most the names of the places so i wouldnt be able to tell u

i just suggest a park

At night....GET OFF THE STREETS!!.... go to any coffee house, Starbucks etc.

You can find some quiet spots upstairs in Union Station which should be open 24hrs.
Also, Barnes and Noble in G'town is open till 11pm or midnight.
Have you tried one of the many university campuses? Their classroom buildings/ lecture halls should be open at night.
Outdoors, there is the Khalil Gibran memorial on Mass Ave (across from UK embassy), there's the National Cathedral, and there is a little tiny park just as soon you cross the key bridge to Rosslyn