It started, as very few things do, with a plaque – and an idea to have that plaque replaced.
"It seemed like a good idea!" said Councilor Alanganin, viewing the plaque outside the Summit Library with the overworked head of his office, Executive Secretary Matiyak, who looked less convinced.
"If you say so, councilor," she said as she held a small file folder in the same hand that she used to hold her first cup of coffee for the day, which she immediately brought up to her mouth to take a sip from. In her other hand, she was reviewing even more documents with the use of a digital tablet. With the help of her skill in technomancy, this tablet was feeding information directly to her eyes without her even looking at it.
Instead of focusing on her tablet, Matiyak was looking at the plaque with Alanganin, a plaque that was installed right in front of the library for all to see. More importantly, Matiyak was looking at the small seal of the city council at the bottom of the plaque that read: "Summit City Council Committee for Libraries."
"Some of us in your office did raise our concerns," said Matiyak after she took another sip from her coffee.
"Of course, of course, but it was such a novel idea!" said the councilor, putting emphasis on his last three words by gesticulating in the way a politician who is used to giving speeches regularly would. "The council genuinely loved it! The mayor signed off on it! How many libraries in the country can brag about having more than 50 books?"
"I imagine a fair few of them-"
"Precisely, Matty! Only a fair few! And Summit Library is one of them!" said the councilor, only for Matiyak to roll her eyes in the way that she definitely always does when this lovable-but-naïve elected official she calls her boss gets when he's excited about things that he really should think about for more than a minute before acting on. "But now I hear people are laughing at the plaque, Matty! Laughing!"
"I can't imagine why, councilor," said Matiyak.
"Neither can I! This needs to go well! What if they're laughing at the plaque and then refusing to go to the library? Smaller library attendance means a smaller budget, which then leads to cost-cutting which then cascades into all these other problems! Less money to pay library staff, less money to pay for maintenance, less money for books! What if they have to sell the books, Matty? What if, to raise money for the library, they have to sell so many books that the library actually has fewer than 50 books? This plaque would be lying to the people!"
"I really wish they didn't disband the Public Library Board," said Matiyak, who was just nodding along to the councilor's small speech. She really did love her job and loved how passionate Alanganin gets for keeping places like Summit Library open and well-funded. "And the Public Library Commission before it," she added, which garnered a sad "Mhmm" of approval from the councilor.
They stood there in silence for a minute. Matiyak was still browsing through documents and schedules and minutes of meetings and, quite honestly, enjoying the downtime of not having to run around city hall. Alanganin was hyper-focused on the plaque in front of him. This silence stretched on to two minutes, until-
"I got it!" shouted Alanganin suddenly, raising a hand in a gesture of triumph. His voice made several people passing by look his way in shock for a second before they went back about their business. "A new plaque. We'll get a new plaque!"
"Oh, councilor-"
"Home to More Than One Hundred Books!" he said, his hands wiping the air in front of the plaque with a flourish. "That'll do it! There's definitely at least 50 books in the new shipment that just came in, right?"
"Councilor, please-"
"It's genius! It's absolutely genius! The council's going to love this!"
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure, Matty! How many libraries can brag about having more than a hundred books?"
"We just talked about-"
"Come on, Matty, we need to get back to the office," he said as he started to walk down the street toward City Hall. "We need to do a lot of paperwork! A budget request for the cost of a new plaque, a requisition form to get a local shop to have a new plaque made – I'm sure we can use our old contractor, right? They won't mind, it's extra cash! – an authorization form to get the old plaque removed, another authorization form to get the new plaque installed, a public discussion for this magnificent, wonderful, brilliant idea– Ow!"
Before he could walk any further, Matiyak, using her hand holding her cup of coffee and file folder, conjured a wall of hard air with a flick of her wrist to stop him. He rubbed at his forehead for a bit before turning on his secretary. "Matty? What'dja do that for?"
"Ally, for Elhek's sake," she said, using his nickname to get it through to him that she wanted him to listen because this was a serious matter. "Your commitment to Summit Library is wonderful. But in the months you spent working on getting this plaque through City Council, did you even stop to, oh I don't know, talk to any of the library employees?"
She dispelled the conjured wall of air with another flick of her wrist, moving as though it wasn't weighed down by her coffee and files.
"Well of course! We had a public discussion-"
"During which," she interrupted," you gave library staff no room to answer questions from the public. Poor Lynue was fuming by the end of it because she couldn't get a word in."
The councilor was silent for another minute as he digested the gravity of what Matiyak told him. He was being negligent, and she had shoved this into the spotlight for him to see and take stock of. Seeing that he would not respond, she continued, walking up the steps to the Summit Library and opening the door by using more conjured air to turn the knob.
"Perhaps, before we go talk to City Council again, you could spend some time with one of your constituents?" she said, holding the door open for him with her hand – which, it must be stressed, is already busy holding her coffee and her files.
"Of course. Of course, Matty, you're right. I'm sorry, I've been neglectful of the very people this plaque is supposed to benefit. We should go in, take in the library, talk with staff," he said. "And I suppose I should apologize to... Uh..."
"Lynue," Matiyak said, completing the sentence for him.
"Lynue, right, sorry," he said. "Off we go, then."
"It seemed like a good idea!" said Councilor Alanganin, viewing the plaque outside the Summit Library with the overworked head of his office, Executive Secretary Matiyak, who looked less convinced.
"If you say so, councilor," she said as she held a small file folder in the same hand that she used to hold her first cup of coffee for the day, which she immediately brought up to her mouth to take a sip from. In her other hand, she was reviewing even more documents with the use of a digital tablet. With the help of her skill in technomancy, this tablet was feeding information directly to her eyes without her even looking at it.
Instead of focusing on her tablet, Matiyak was looking at the plaque with Alanganin, a plaque that was installed right in front of the library for all to see. More importantly, Matiyak was looking at the small seal of the city council at the bottom of the plaque that read: "Summit City Council Committee for Libraries."
"Some of us in your office did raise our concerns," said Matiyak after she took another sip from her coffee.
"Of course, of course, but it was such a novel idea!" said the councilor, putting emphasis on his last three words by gesticulating in the way a politician who is used to giving speeches regularly would. "The council genuinely loved it! The mayor signed off on it! How many libraries in the country can brag about having more than 50 books?"
"I imagine a fair few of them-"
"Precisely, Matty! Only a fair few! And Summit Library is one of them!" said the councilor, only for Matiyak to roll her eyes in the way that she definitely always does when this lovable-but-naïve elected official she calls her boss gets when he's excited about things that he really should think about for more than a minute before acting on. "But now I hear people are laughing at the plaque, Matty! Laughing!"
"I can't imagine why, councilor," said Matiyak.
"Neither can I! This needs to go well! What if they're laughing at the plaque and then refusing to go to the library? Smaller library attendance means a smaller budget, which then leads to cost-cutting which then cascades into all these other problems! Less money to pay library staff, less money to pay for maintenance, less money for books! What if they have to sell the books, Matty? What if, to raise money for the library, they have to sell so many books that the library actually has fewer than 50 books? This plaque would be lying to the people!"
"I really wish they didn't disband the Public Library Board," said Matiyak, who was just nodding along to the councilor's small speech. She really did love her job and loved how passionate Alanganin gets for keeping places like Summit Library open and well-funded. "And the Public Library Commission before it," she added, which garnered a sad "Mhmm" of approval from the councilor.
They stood there in silence for a minute. Matiyak was still browsing through documents and schedules and minutes of meetings and, quite honestly, enjoying the downtime of not having to run around city hall. Alanganin was hyper-focused on the plaque in front of him. This silence stretched on to two minutes, until-
"I got it!" shouted Alanganin suddenly, raising a hand in a gesture of triumph. His voice made several people passing by look his way in shock for a second before they went back about their business. "A new plaque. We'll get a new plaque!"
"Oh, councilor-"
"Home to More Than One Hundred Books!" he said, his hands wiping the air in front of the plaque with a flourish. "That'll do it! There's definitely at least 50 books in the new shipment that just came in, right?"
"Councilor, please-"
"It's genius! It's absolutely genius! The council's going to love this!"
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure, Matty! How many libraries can brag about having more than a hundred books?"
"We just talked about-"
"Come on, Matty, we need to get back to the office," he said as he started to walk down the street toward City Hall. "We need to do a lot of paperwork! A budget request for the cost of a new plaque, a requisition form to get a local shop to have a new plaque made – I'm sure we can use our old contractor, right? They won't mind, it's extra cash! – an authorization form to get the old plaque removed, another authorization form to get the new plaque installed, a public discussion for this magnificent, wonderful, brilliant idea– Ow!"
Before he could walk any further, Matiyak, using her hand holding her cup of coffee and file folder, conjured a wall of hard air with a flick of her wrist to stop him. He rubbed at his forehead for a bit before turning on his secretary. "Matty? What'dja do that for?"
"Ally, for Elhek's sake," she said, using his nickname to get it through to him that she wanted him to listen because this was a serious matter. "Your commitment to Summit Library is wonderful. But in the months you spent working on getting this plaque through City Council, did you even stop to, oh I don't know, talk to any of the library employees?"
She dispelled the conjured wall of air with another flick of her wrist, moving as though it wasn't weighed down by her coffee and files.
"Well of course! We had a public discussion-"
"During which," she interrupted," you gave library staff no room to answer questions from the public. Poor Lynue was fuming by the end of it because she couldn't get a word in."
The councilor was silent for another minute as he digested the gravity of what Matiyak told him. He was being negligent, and she had shoved this into the spotlight for him to see and take stock of. Seeing that he would not respond, she continued, walking up the steps to the Summit Library and opening the door by using more conjured air to turn the knob.
"Perhaps, before we go talk to City Council again, you could spend some time with one of your constituents?" she said, holding the door open for him with her hand – which, it must be stressed, is already busy holding her coffee and her files.
"Of course. Of course, Matty, you're right. I'm sorry, I've been neglectful of the very people this plaque is supposed to benefit. We should go in, take in the library, talk with staff," he said. "And I suppose I should apologize to... Uh..."
"Lynue," Matiyak said, completing the sentence for him.
"Lynue, right, sorry," he said. "Off we go, then."