What Happens in the Library, Stays in the Library

Thousands of books can line a library’s shelves. Some old, some new, some picture books with the teeth marks of toddlers on the cardboard covers. Some tell stories of fantastic dragons and knights in shining armor. Some tell fact, some history. It just depends on where you look.

Those who lack knowledge come to libraries to learn. Those who already have the knowledge write the literature to fill the seemingly endless aisles of shelves. Those who have found the topics they enjoy, or those who are simply just bored come to libraries to read and reread their favorite books. Occasionally, someone visits to check out a book and it never returns. This happens only on the rarest of occasions. However, when the sun dips below the horizon and the librarians scan their keycards before checking the locks, the library truly comes alive. 

The fantasy section starts off the commotion with a bang; fearless heroes and wizards and mythical creatures clamber from the pages. Dragons burst out with molten lava dripping from their jaws, goblins hop down the shelves, and unicorns snort glittering clouds of mist into the air. The fiction section follows quickly, but with less flair. Seemingly ordinary people emerge from the pages, along with the occasional talking animal. Each one has their own story to tell, some of them even show a preview on their exterior, like one small girl surrounded by a large flock of crows. Sci-fi comes next, and high-powered jets and flying cars explode like raptors from the shelves, settling into a quiet hum overhead. Aliens, mad scientists, and the supernatural are all reality, and laser beams and war machines quickly take up most of the floor space. Non-fiction brings up the rear with everything from historical figures to creatures of the deep. Despite lacking the supernatural aspects of the other books, non-fiction brings a completely different aspect of incredible to the scene. Dinosaurs that went extinct eons ago are animated and walking around, looking like small figurines as they meander around the shelves and weave between books. Whales call out to one another as they move about in enclosed bubbles of water and ospreys watch schools of fish swim below them with a keen eye. 

If one were to peer through the window at night, they would see an incredible sight. Characters and genres mixing together, interacting as though they were the same. Sci-fi meets non-fiction, fiction meets fantasy. Despite the electrifying atmosphere, many characters from older novels disapprove of the nightly extravaganza. Characters from classics like Dante’s Inferno and Pride and Prejudice huddle together in a grumbling group at the back of the library, muttering disapprovals under their breath. However, for every judgemental group, there are double the amount of those who appreciate the celebration of differences. The celebration of the incredible, the boring, the fantastic, the informational, and the wacky. Every night, characters marvel at their differences while celebrating their strength as a group. Characters from Harry Potter demonstrate spells for the sisters of The Penderwicks while Day and June of the Legend trilogy teach proper fighting skills to Red White and Royal Blue’s Alex, June, and Nora. Aircrafts soar overhead, some leaving trails of bubbly exhaust in their wake. Predators and prey exist together, in harmony, learning about one another rather than running in fear. The library is alight with the soft glow of inspiration, dripping gold from the seams of the windows into the blanket of darkness. 

As the night reaches its peak, the celebration hits full throttle. Aquamarine and lavender lights are cast along the walls and ceiling, illuminating the faces of those below as birds of all kinds flock above. The party continues, music and laughter exploding from behind closed doors. Dragon’s wings flap, their leathery joints casting shadows over the floor as they glide, cutting through the air like a razorblade. Birds fly along their sides, gyrfalcons and ospreys and seagulls slice through the air as white wolves trot underneath. Herds of horses and zebras gallop around the aisles in a perpetual race against one another. Dolphins and seals swim freely around the library, surrounded safely by pods of water as they explore, even daring to swim atop the librarian’s desk, leaving a small puddle of water in their wake. Aliens pilot their ships far above the ground.

Through all of this happiness, though, not everything is so sunshine and rainbows. Every book has a tragedy, and this gathering is no exception. Airships take shots at one another and riots break out below. The Titanic creaks and groans as it breaks apart, spilling passengers onto the skyscrapers of New York City like ragdolls. Forests burn and debris falls from the ceiling, crumbling onto soldiers stationed in trenches. Flying warcrafts go down as the protagonists of novels sing and dance together, illuminated by the heat of the flames emitting from the ships crashing behind them. Where opposing genres meet one another, joy and grief merge together in a bittersweet scene. 

Night begins to come to a close, and the extravaganza winds down. Characters are exhausted, leaning on one another for support. Those wounded from the fighting help carry the dead back to their respective shelves. Animals gather their young, Mansa Musa and Abraham Lincoln gather their belongings and as the sun begins to peer over the hill in front of the library, they slowly return to their shelves. Pages flip open as their tenants step inside. Each book accepts their residents as they enter, opening a window into the pages that drips with glittering gold liquid that seals quickly afterward. The aquamarine and lavender lights slowly fade away, draping the library in a mist of darkness, the only source of light being the glow of the final characters slowly stepping back into their stories, into their reality. 

The sun rises ever higher, and the librarians slowly make their way back into the building, the scent of coffee and morning dew condensing in the atmosphere. They check the books over, adding new arrivals to the shelves and clicking quietly on their computers. The library seems just as it should. Normal. Boring, to some. None of the books move, no creature peeks out from behind a shelf, no gunshots go off to signify the fighting that occurred. No extinct animals, no dinosaurs, no magicians or wizards or dragons or aliens traverse the aisles with free rein of the property. There are no remnants that could hint to what sort of party was going on just a few hours prior, sans a small puddle of water left on the main desk.

Someone once said that the stories in a library are alive. This was meant as a figurative saying, told to curious children and used to encourage teenagers to read more frequently. What the creator of this saying failed to realize was that libraries truly are alive. Not in the metaphorical way that they meant, but in a literal fashion. Humans may never know about the gatherings every night, but the books do. The books that carry the knowledge of the world, teaching what they can in bits and pieces. Libraries are powerful places full of secrets, and it takes a determined reader to reveal them.