Death of the Librarian

Tracing the wood grain with their finger, a hand delicately floated across cracks of the dilapidated wall. A smile discordant of their cautious lips appeared as they felt a slight bump in the oak beam. With one flick of a finger old lightbulbs buzzed on and off humming with their discontent. Cobwebs shimmered from the bronze chains of one hanging lamp to the next revealing just how unkept the building was. Slowly as the bulbs brightened, a decrepit sight revealed itself. Bundles of paper bound to spine lay on shelves reaching from floor to roof. Titles not long forgotten shown both on spine and front cover like few have ever seen. Artwork hinted but never told all the secrets that lay hidden between the pages.

Taking a step forward, a soft sigh left their lungs. It was truly a sight to behold. Most tragic that few would ever experience the wonders they had lived almost every day. Faintly at the base of the stairs a wonder of colors lay on the floor, projected from the stained glass window sitting high up on the second story. Attempting to hold back their tears and their shallow breaths, they turned towards the reception desk. Old scuff marks wore away at the top’s finish, telling the endless exchange of tales; except it was no longer endless. The end had come and gone. What a cruel fate to be so casually destroyed by The City’s gavel wielded by an old man educated from the very thing he himself destroyed.

Taking a hold of the blemished brass handle a good tug forced the jammed drawer open. Inside lay a few papers buried under pens, ink wells, and bookmarks. Carefully sliding the envelopes from under the mess of office supplies, they threw the collection of condemning notices atop the desk creating a color pallet of faded white and yellow. Return address after return address, they searched for the Arcadia Bay Town Council. Among the sea of hand written condolences the official notice had to be somewhere! Swiping the long forgotten messages off the desk, they quickly spun out of control before resting on the dusty floor. Revealing itself, a letter of printed font lay between all the other messages as if trying to hid the inevitable truth. Addressed without being written by a human hand read “Arcadia Bay Public Library” in a terrible Baskerville font.

Swiftly grabbing the letter, they let their steel toed boots rumble the hardwood floor as they ascended to the second story. Stairs creaked and the handrail bowed from what seemed like years of water damage. The envelope, although printed, still housed an archaic parchment-like paper favored by the council. Unraveling the letter, they took a deep breath and read aloud:

Dear Arcadia Bay Public Library,

It comes with great displeasure of the town council to inform you that in three years time there will no longer be enough funding to fully staff the Arcadia Bay Public Library. Public interests as of last election have not supported an increase of budget, leading us to make a tough decision. Rather than lose the collection of books that the Arcadia Bay Public Library has collected over the past century, we have struck a deal with Otter Random House. All books will be donated to the publisher and in exchange they will host an online collection with maintenance included. The website will be available for citizens to use at their discretion.

We realize that this cost saving measure does not support the ability to expand our current collection without an increase in budget, but at the very least this will preserve what we have and will allow us to easily comply with any changes in local or state law. While we do not foresee a banning of books in our public library, we do realize that these decisions are often made hastily and at the cost of a libraries current collection.

Rather than delay closure of this facility, town council has decided to stop all functions of the Arcadia Bay Public Library at the end of the month. The unused budget will be transferred to Otter Random House who will assist in the digitization of our assets and reassignment of building ownership.

Sincerely, Arcadia Bay Town Council

Looking up from the note they continued through the eclectic corridors of shelves not so quite perpendicular to the floors of the slanted old building. Combinations of old and older books filling the air with a smell of new and prior knowledge combined in a symphony of questions and answers. If only Otter Random House had the decency to give the books a new home after they scanned them. This unofficial museum would have to stand the test of time as a testament to an era gone by.