You reach the end of the worn, dirt-covered alleyway, the bright lights and cool air conditioning

of the
library's parking garage calling to you from across the expanse. It's a relief to finally be away from the hot
summer sun. Well, it's mostly a relief. You find yourself stretching your arms and taking a moment to look
around, despite the fact that you still have a good 40 minute walk to your car. Lately, you've started taking the
long way to your car, walking through the library and parking garage on your way out in order to give yourself a
little more time at the library. It's not your fault. You work a second job in the library that pays considerably less
than the one you work in the day. But since moving to the city, you've been slowly taking on more responsibility
for the library, staying late, coming in bright and early to start working and take on more tasks. It's stressful, but
the library is exactly what it says it is: a place for you to go to do your job, take some time off and enjoy your
weekend. Sometimes, you get to see people you've never met before. Sometimes, you get to save a book from
being thrown away since it doesn't fit the required criteria for being thrown away. Sometimes, you just sit down
in the library and stare at the stacks, sighing in contentment and relief. But those times aren't too frequent
recently. Lately, it's the same people show up. Every day, these people come in, set up camp in their usual
specific section of the library and work until they suddenly, one day, no longer come anymore. In a strange way,
you miss them. They were some of the first people you had helped at the library. They were, not to put too fine a
point on it, your first paycheck. They would spend all day there, quiet as mice, working and learning, and then,
one day, they were gone. Their seats would remain empty for a week or two, before someone else would come
along, sit there for a little bit and then leave. You knew most of them by name and would always take time to
help them out, but at this point, it's been so long since you've seen some of them that you have to dig in the
archives of the latest book they checked out to find their names. Much like several of the other people you've
helped fix their computers and get online, they didn't last long. As an librarian, finding the answers to your
patrons' questions became a routine part of part of your job.