The Bowness Public Library is smaller than the Mac’s that’s at the end of the same strip mall, and is one of the least utilized in the city. Regardless, the Public Library remains open and is used, unofficially, as a dumping ground for “problematic books”. For the most part, these are books with complaints against them for explicit content or politically incorrect material. However, if you ask the librarian to see the basement and she complies, you’ll discover books that are problematic for different reasons.
To get into the basement, you need a Public Library Card, no overdue notices against you, and to come on Saturday evening when the librarian in charge of the basement is on duty. If you meet all these conditions, you’ll be led through a trapdoor hidden beneath a small rug and down a staircase. At the bottom, you will realize that the entire room is packed so full of books that there is little room to stand. There are bookshelves on every wall, built into the staircase, and even into the floor. The librarian will not let you take any of the books in the floor out. However, the walls are fair game.
The eastern wall is the most important, as it contains the history, travel and biography sections. Everything you learned in school is a lie, and the basement is where they keep the truth.
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