The Library

The first book in my stack was one I re-shelled a lot. It was a classic, but thick as a loaf of bread and about as dry as one. The residence of libraries carry around the same number of books as the population they serve. So we had two and a half books for each person, grown or young in our community. And you could feel it, especially when the library was empty. There were always a handful of books set on the cart, or piled inside the return slot when I locked up.