The Library, From a New Perspective
The Black Void - Episode 362
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"Uh, Miss Jordan, your card."
I grab the Tumbolia Citizen's card off the desk, thanking Ms. Morales as I do so. I get into another pentacycle - whether it is the same one I arrived in, nobody knows - and pedal back to the library. It appears I'm going to be working there now. I hand my work-study papers to an elderly gentleman - Allen, according to the nametag - at the main help desk. "So, Holly, what do you envision yourself doing here?" he asks me. "We're terribly understaffed in just about every area, and this place seems to just get bigger and bigger every day." "Well, I was hoping to be around the section with the math books, and maybe the philosophy area as well." "A shelver, then. You can help us reshelve returned books in sector Z, mathematics, physics, astronomy, and some science fiction. You shouldn't have any trouble finding it. The sector is in the extreme back left corner, and the sorter mechanism is somewhere near the center." "Sorter mechanism?" I ask. This term is new to me. "Well, yes, how do you think we get all our books in the right areas? Every book has a bar code label in the back, detailing precisely where it came from." I take Gold Cheer Beaches out of my shoulder bag and examine the back cover. "Like this?" I ask. "Yes. Exactly. Now, a machine near the front of the library reads these codes and the books get sent to the appropriate sector via a complex series of underground tubes that I can't really explain. All I know is that sometimes the books get stuck in there and we have to put in extra energy to get them out before the bookworms can eat them." "Bookworms?" "Parasites," says a voice behind me. I look over my shoulder. It's James. "Nasty little things. Seem to gain all the nutrients they need from paper. We lose probably six books a month to them." "That's James," the gentleman explains. "He's in charge of the help desks for sectors A, B, G, H, M, and N. Jerry runs the help desk in sectors C, D, E, F, I, and J; Keri runs it in sectors K, L, O, P, Q, and R; Larry has the other eight in the far left of the building. We're all on first name basis here. Provides a friendlier atmosphere." "Yes. I can see this is a very friendly place." "Allen, if you'd like, I explain the sorter mechanism to her." "Oh, yes, James, if you have the time, that would be wonderful. He's really something, you know. Keeps me sane here what with all sorts of crazy things happening every day," he explains to me. "Come on, Allen. You've been working here longer than anyone can remember, probably seen everything as well." We walk across the aisle into the vast expanse of sector A--magazines and newspapers. We stop in front of a machine that seems to be dispensing large clear plastic balls. "Tell me, miss," James asks me, "have you ever been to a - oh, what's the term Allen always uses - bowling alley?" "Well, yes, but not in a long time." I was thirteen the last time I went. And I was on the real axis. "Well, the way the sorter mechanism works is similar to the way you get the ball back at the bowling alley. The books are dropped into these balls, and then the balls close and the people up in that area bowl them into - oh, hi, Jennifer," he interjects as someone about my age passes by us with a cart half filled with books. "As I was saying, they bowl them into the right sector's slot. Then the balls show up here, you take the books out of the balls, put them on the cart for shelving, and then send the ball back through this hole here. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense at first, but I'm sure you'll catch on quickly." "And the bookworms can still get into the balls?" It sure doesn't make a lot of sense to me. "We tried to make the balls as bookworm-proof as possible, but it just won't happen. Sometimes people return books with bookworms already on them; sometimes bookworms get in the balls when you open them to get the books out; sometimes we just have to deal with an extremely resilient bookworm or two." It's clear he's expecting another question, and I don't have one right now, so I guess I should say goodbye. "Well, thanks for the tutorial. I hope there's going to be someone over there to help me get the hang of things." "There should be. We're understaffed because of the huge number of books, not the complete lack of people." A short, awkward pause. "Wait. You look familiar. You're the girl that was just in looking for that book, the one we couldn't find, right?" "Yeah, that was me." "What was your name again?" "I'm Holly." "Holly." He repeats the name to himself as I make my way all the way to the other corner of the library.
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unknown adventurer
3/12/2005 1:27:49 AM
Extending Enabled
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