Heavy Reading

[exiled_heir_of_the_eighth]

I'm working on a plot for Sahaal that would involve him looking in the Bar's library for some intel he needs at the moment. I've been planning to do this part of the plot as a short story, but I've got a bit of a problem. There doesn't seem to be an actual description for the library anywhere that I can find.

Now, I know this is Milliways, and it probably changes décor every second Friday, but I was hoping that there was something I could build from. If anything's out there, or if you have an idea about its appearance, I'd really appreciated if you'd clue me in.

Comments

[never_promised]

Oh man, I mean...I've had characters go on epic adventures in the library on the grounds that it Literally Goes On Forever. RP buddies and I have had it get pretty fantastical when you go deep into it--kind of organic, with books growing on trees, weird monsters, anything you want.

But I've kind of just been making it up same as you, without knowing what people have done in years past, so like...I may have ruffled other understandings of what the library is like.

[cottoncandypink]

There isn't one! Everybody will disagree on something. There are some items around that are permanent features, like the emergency potato, evil karaoke machine, and the bra above the bar. But as far as layout or décor, it's a bar. At the end of the universe.

[herr_bookman]

The library, like the rest of the bar, is nebulous. But I've always thought of the space as posessing large windows with dark green curtains, tables and comfortable chairs, and shelves as far as the eye can see. The scent is comforting to Autor; it's one of paper and ink and knowledge, as ephemeral as that is. Like others have mentioned, the library can turn into a book forest with monsters if your pup travels into the depths.

[cutting_edgex23]

My view of it varies depending on which character I'm bringing into it!

But the shelves go on forever, and things get . . . weird the deeper you go. Also wherever there are magic books, things get . . . .twice as weird.

I mean, honestly, the library is your personal view of what a library should be, or your character's personal view. Just like the rest of the bar? It's not helpful, exactly, but it can be freeing to make the surroundings fit the narrative you want to tell!

[cameoflage]

I picture it mostly as a maze of floor-to-ceiling shelves, and I've never had any particular aesthetic in mind for the architectural style so I think my brain just supplied the late 20th century utilitarianism of my school/public library from when I was a kid. I'm sure it has seating areas but I have no specific mental image of them.

[shakemyhand]

I've always seen it as an endless library that is a lot like the library at say my university, or all of the separate ones including the really old archive in the anthro department, and the Hogwarts library...mixed with a public library. So, yeah, lots of tables, tons of stacks, some newer metal shelving, some not all the way to the ceiling, some are those weird moving shelves. Some the old fashioned wooden shelves with cast iron railing and ladders, there is a huge card catalogue, and of course flying books. And as others have said, it gets weirder the farther in you go, like many libraries. Oh, and to top it off it has windows with nice lighting n some places. And of course there are differing kinds of books, like data pads that can be translated to differing languages, and books that you woudln't expect in say Wraith or Elvish.