10
The library sat adjacent to the public school on Center Street. It ran parallel to Main Street. A sign at the front read ‘Brookhaven K-12’ suggesting that students of all ages attended in one place. School wasn’t in session thanks to the summer holiday, but I spotted a children’s play area behind tall wire fencing occupied by a couple of kids chasing each other around the swing set as their mothers watched from a nearby bench. None of them paid me any mind as I crossed the grass strewn path from the school proper to the library.
Inside, it looked like what I imagined all American public libraries did. A single desk at the front staffed by a matronly woman with glasses perched on the end of her nose and rows upon rows of carefully cataloged books and other media.
“Afternoon,” the libr
