Turning Pages

Chapter Twelve

TWELVE 

I was curious to see the storefront location Blake had chosen for the temporary library, but I still went along unwillingly. The parking lot seemed spacious-I had to give it that-but the building's façade was crumbling a little. Some people might have thought it charming. I thought it just looked old. I mean, if it's almost dark and you can still see that the building is falling apart, that's pretty bad. 

Blake opened the door and we all stepped inside. It was too dim to see anything, but he felt his way along the wall, and a moment later the lights came on. 

"Wow," Melanie said, twirling to take in the whole area. I followed Blake as he showed us around, pointing out the plush carpeting, the tiled walkways through the store, the counter that would serve as our circulation desk. There were already shelves along the walls, but we'd need to arrange to transport our big, heavy bookcases from the library. I cringed at this realization. Those things were monstrous. And bolted to the floor. With really big bolts. 

"We can rent a truck and get some guys to help us," Blake said, his thoughts obviously going right along with mine. "The bookcases will be the hardest, but they can be taken apart, right?" 

"Most of them, yes," I told him. "We can undo the screws and pop out the shelves, then remove the supports. Getting the bolts out of the floor, though-that's going to be hard." 

"Are all the shelves bolted to the floor?" 

"Except for those smaller ones you wanted us to move, yes." 

Blake crossed his arms. "Are we talking impossible hard or just really difficult hard?" 

"Not impossible. But let's say it will be pretty darned difficult." I couldn't fathom how we would get those bookcases out by ourselves, but it had to be done, unless we wanted to go through the trouble and expense of getting new ones, and I didn't think the library board would go for that. 

"We can get some help," he said at last. "We can ask Chase, and he's got some Bob the Builder friends. Let's set up a time and give it a try, and if it doesn't work, well, then we'll know." 

"Let's assume it will work," Melanie said. "And if it doesn't, maybe we could hire some professionals." 

Blake pulled out his cell. "Lemme see if Chase can come over. He's a genius at this kind of thing. And if he can't do it, we'll call in a pro, but I hate to spend that kind of money." He sent a quick text, then slipped the phone back into his pocket. 

"Where should we put everything?" Melanie asked. 

Blake took out a notebook and made a rough sketch of the area. We spent the next few minutes walking around and talking about where the shelves would go, how we'd arrange what little furniture we'd bring with us, and how many computers we could bring. The library would be shrinking to about a fifth of its current size. I was starting to feel claustrophobic already, but I gritted my teeth and refused to think about all we'd be giving up. 

"So how long will it take us to empty out, say, two bookshelves so we can try dismantling them?" Blake asked. 

I thought for a minute. "We can just empty them in a matter of minutes, but I think we need to catalogue them as we go so we don't lose track. Of course, it all depends on how busy we get. If the snow keeps up, we won't have as many patrons."  

"Pray for snow then," Blake said. 

Just then I heard rapping at the door and saw Chase peering through the window. Blake went over to let him in. 

"I hear you need my expert advice." Chase smiled at me and then Melanie. "Blake couldn't handle it on his own, or something like that." 

"Yeah. Anyway, there's manual labor involved."