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Back The Library Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. THE LIBRARY
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. Questions for your Book Club
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. About the Author
  57. Become an Aria Addict

I’d hardly finished the sentence before Maggie was pulling both me and my dad into her arms. At that moment we almost felt like a family – an odd, dysfunctional one, but it felt good all the same. ‘Right,’ she said, pulling away and briskly wiping under her eyes. ‘Who wants something to eat?’

EPILOGUE

Five weeks later

Maggie and Christine had been planning a bit of a do. It was partly to show off the new mobile library van and partly to say thank you to everyone who had supported the efforts to save the library. It was the last Saturday in September and the sun was shining, which was causing an issue for the iced cakes the WI had made. Although given the hordes of people, they weren’t going to need to last long. Maggie shooed a few of them into a more orderly tea queue.

Christine was looking smart in her new suit. She had taken it upon herself to adopt the title of senior librarian as she was by default the only full-time member of staff left in the area. It seemed to have given her a renewed enthusiasm for her job and she had taken on her new role with gusto. The library was thriving and the original Save the Library committee had morphed into an ongoing forum to keep the ideas fresh. Christine was very much leading it.

Maggie and Tom had settled into part-time volunteer roles and were leading lights in the book club. Farah led the children’s section and would be partly responsible for restocking the mobile library and managing orders that came in from its rounds.

‘Where’s the blooming van?’ said Maggie. Tom looked nervously at his phone.

‘It’ll be here,’ said Farah, eyeing them both. ‘Wait till you see the paintwork; it’s awesome.’ Farah was rocking on her heels.

As if on cue a cheer went up from the crowd as the brightly painted van pulled up opposite. The van featured a beautiful design depicting books flying out of an open window like birds taking flight and it created a buzz in the crowd.

They all posed for photographs in front of the mobile library and the new venture was toasted with tea and cake and a lot of mutual congratulations. Inside it was just as impressive. Tom and Farah proudly showed off the romance section, which they had worked on together.

Once people had gathered outside Christine clapped her hands and everyone turned in her direction.