“Mr Flint, we’ve had this conversation before. You cannot keep putting your name and telephone number in the back of the Mills and Boon large-print books.” His grin widens, and I shake my head. “The Mills and Boon publishing house was created to bring affordable romance to women all over the world, but I don’t think they ever imagined it would be in this way.” I attempt to look stern. “If it happens again, I’m going to have to fine you. No more defacing of the library stock.”

He nods at me and winks before taking his library card back and trotting through the library in the direction of the large-print romance section.

Bethany, my senior library assistant, comes to lean against the counter next to me. “He’s like the world’s oldest and smallest sex pest,” she says in a marvelling voice.

I lean my elbows on the counter and stare after him. “He’s not going to take any notice, is he?”

She laughs. “Nope. You’re too nice for your own good, Charlie.”

I stretch and look at my tiny best friend, whose hair is coloured green this week. We’ve known each other since we were lowly library assistants together. “It’s not my fault that you’re fiercer than a tiger.”

She laughs again and nudges me. “You’re far too nice. They sense that you’re a bloody pushover.”

“I am not,” I say indignantly. “Last week I totally told that bloke off for jamming the photocopier and losing his temper about it.”

“And what happened?”

I sink slightly. “I did all his photocopying for him.”

Her laughter would be too loud for a university library, but this is an old public library in Southwark, so no one turns a hair. I cast a quick look around to make sure everything is okay and smile. There might be water stains on the ceiling and a strange smell in the children’s library, but this is my little kingdom, and I love every inch of it passionately. I need to because it’s an old Carnegie building and, along with the gifts of the beautiful exterior and the parquet flooring throughout, comes a list of DIY jobs as long as my arm and a council that seems determined to only spend a tenner on its upkeep.