— rarely on the desk · always somewhere on the floor —
no one has been formally introduced. the desk at the front of the library is sometimes occupied, more often not. when occupied, the figure does not look up. when unoccupied, a small note on the desk reads back in five minutes, in a hand that has not aged.
the librarian is, by general agreement, corvian — that is, resembling a polite, knowing bird. tilts the head when listening. answers questions mostly by walking you to a shelf, not by speaking.
see also: the custodian, the visitor, errata.