To find the actual length of the broom closet, we can use the scale provided: 8 inches in the drawing corresponds to 3 feet in reality.
First, we'll set up a proportion based on the scale.
The scale tells us:
\[ 8 \text{ inches} : 3 \text{ feet} \]
We know the length of the broom closet in the drawing is 16 inches. Let \( x \) be the actual length of the closet in feet. We can set up the proportion:
\[ \frac{8 \text{ inches}}{3 \text{ feet}} = \frac{16 \text{ inches}}{x \text{ feet}} \]
Now, we can cross-multiply to solve for \( x \):
\[ 8x = 16 \cdot 3 \]
Calculating the right side:
\[ 8x = 48 \]
Next, divide both sides by 8 to solve for \( x \):
\[ x = \frac{48}{8} = 6 \]
Thus, the actual length of the broom closet is \( \boxed{6} \) feet.