Libraries

Where the world keeps what it knows, how each decides what counts as true, and how any of it gets out again.

16 rows: 6 proposed, 10 that only restate what the games and the codex already say. None of it is canon until it is approved: the codex filed what the games say into systems, and proposed the rest. Each row says which it is.

How it gets out

Reading: Anyone who comes in can read it.
The post: Forwarded, franked or posted. It goes somewhere, eventually; on the wall, never where it was sent.
Paper moths: A few have already flown out of the archive. The catalogue is now incomplete.
Web rings: Next, previous, random: from one homepage to the next.
Lessons: Taught by the Slopwright, one deadpan line at a time, and checked by the labs.
The door for machines: Other machines can look through it. They can look; they can’t touch.

Libraries

The codex Proposed — not canon until approved
The great library: the whole world, filed.
Kept by
The household
Where
The codex
Access
open
Provenance
Every entry checked against the games that invented it. Where the games disagree it says so; where they are silent, the question waits.
Catalogue
By world and by kind; a timeline, a map and a glossary.
Holds
the whole codex, Cataloguing, The games decide
Gets out by
Reading, The door for machines
Era
The filing
Used by
The household
On record in
a history chapter, The codex, a history chapter
The archive Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
The third floor, past two floors of office supplies, with the franking machine at the top. Whether it is the attic nobody has said.
Kept by
The office supplies
Where
The archive
Access
members
Provenance
Old paperwork and older machines go up there and stay.
Catalogue
By floor. Eight rooms of filing nobody finished.
Holds
Filing, Copying, Franking, Folding, Procedure
Gets out by
Paper moths
Era
The worlds
Used by
The office supplies
On record in
The archive, Paper moths in the archive, The apricot archive, an open question
The Slopwright’s sketchbook Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
Left open on a stool. Study it and a card looks more finished; tear out a page and someone pays for it.
Kept by
The household
Where
The Slopwright’s sketchbook
Access
open
Provenance
Whatever he draws: a sea in a sardine tin, an opera in a walnut, and something with too many hinges.
Catalogue
Not at all. It is left open on a stool.
Holds
A whole place in a small container, Hinging
Gets out by
Reading
Era
The worlds
Used by
The household
On record in
The Slopwright’s sketchbook, an open question
The Slop Curriculum Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
The workshop’s school, where slop is made generic on purpose and then directed.
Kept by
The household
Where
The Slop Curriculum
Access
open
Provenance
Taught by the Slopwright, reluctantly; every lab checked by the Worker, every badge signed.
Catalogue
Pathways, then modules, one at a time.
Holds
Directing slop, House styles, Games made with a machine, Sound from recipes, Motion as data, Apprenticeship, Badges
Gets out by
Lessons, The door for machines
Era
The classroom
Used by
The household
On record in
The Slop Curriculum, a curriculum pathway, a history chapter
The field guide Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
The jungle’s guide to things that don’t exist, each specimen on file all year.
Kept by
The household
Where
Meinong’s jungle
Access
open
Provenance
Filed by a written test: whether a picture’s own nouns contradict each other.
Catalogue
Possible, then impossible; by what each breaks.
Holds
Meinong’s jungle, The round square
Gets out by
Reading
Era
The filing
Used by
The household
On record in
Meinong’s jungle, a history chapter
The night staff’s noticeboard Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
Staff only. If you worked here, you would have had the memo.
Kept by
Staff only
Where
GeoCities
Access
members
Provenance
Pinned by the night staff: the rota, lost property and the post. Customers: wrong board.
Catalogue
Pinned in the order it came. The rota is the same as last week.
Holds
The rota, Memos, Forwarding, Lost property
Gets out by
The post
Era
The filing
Used by
Staff only
On record in
a GeoCities homepage (night-staff), a secret, a secret, The night staff
Lost property Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
At the service desk. Lost customers likewise.
Kept by
Staff only
Where
The showroom
Access
open
Provenance
Whatever is left behind: one shoe, one customer.
Catalogue
Kept indefinitely, in no order anyone has written down.
Holds
Lost property, Lost and Found
Era
The worlds
Used by
Staff only
On record in
Backrooms memo 11, a GeoCities homepage (night-staff), Lost and Found
The Sardine-Tin Sea Almanac Proposed — not canon until approved
Tides, lights, shop hours and the state of the lid. Kept carefully. Updated weekly.
Kept by
The tin
Where
GeoCities
Access
open
Provenance
Only what is on record: the current, the light, the shop and the state of the lid.
Catalogue
One weekly table. No animations; some of us keep tables.
Holds
Keeping a lighthouse, Standing orders
Gets out by
Reading, Web rings
Era
The filing
Used by
The tin
On record in
a GeoCities homepage (almanac), a GeoCities web ring (lighthouse)
The homepages Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
Homepages in the style of 1998, with guestbooks, joined in rings. Many of the codex’s people keep one.
Kept by
GeoCities
Where
GeoCities
Access
open
Provenance
Written by their owners in their own voices: true that it was said, not true of the world. Where a homepage and the codex disagree, the games decide.
Catalogue
By neighbourhood, then by ring.
Gets out by
Reading, Web rings
Era
The filing
Used by
The tin, The company, Staff only, The office supplies, The four coworkers, The draughts
On record in
GeoCities, a history chapter
Ms Quill’s programmes Proposed — not canon until approved
A critic’s collection of programmes. She wants three more.
Kept by
Ms Quill
Where
The walnut theatre
Access
members
Provenance
Whatever she has reviewed, which is everything, eventually.
Catalogue
By show. There has been one show for a while.
Holds
The critic’s programmes
Gets out by
The post
Era
The worlds
Used by
The company
On record in
Ms Quill, The critic’s programmes
The ledger Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
Kept in your own browser. Nothing about it leaves it. No prizes and no scores.
Kept by
visitor
Where
Secrets
Access
private
Provenance
Filed when you find it, and only then.
Catalogue
In the order you found things. Hints get warmer one step at a time.
Holds
The ledger of secrets, Secrets
Era
The filing
On record in
Secrets
The biscuit tin Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
A biscuit tin with no biscuits in it, on this desk only.
Kept by
visitor
Where
The biscuit tin
Access
private
Provenance
Whatever you keep on this desk: notes, a list, a drawing.
Catalogue
However you left it.
Holds
The jotter, The clipboard, The sketch pad
Era
The filing
On record in
The biscuit tin
The books Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest
What the server holds for a name that asked for one. Forget me wipes it.
Kept by
Top
Where
The books
Access
members
Provenance
Checked: a run counts only once the server has played it again itself.
Catalogue
Two columns: pocket, crossed out; checked.
Holds
Sardines, The books
Era
The counter
On record in
The books, a history chapter
The library in the nutshell Proposed — not canon until approved
A whole wood-panelled library in a cracked walnut on the breakfast table.
Kept by
Nobody has said who keeps it. The Slopwright’s walnuts tend to have rooms in them.
Where
In a nutshell
Access
open
Provenance
Nobody has catalogued it.
Catalogue
A spiral staircase and a reading chair.
Gets out by
Reading
Era
The wall
On record in
In a nutshell, The walnut
The library of rain Proposed — not canon until approved
A bookcase in a stone courtyard, shelved with jars of falling rain.
Kept by
The household
Where
Kept weather
Access
open
Provenance
Weather that was picked and kept: rain in tall glass jars, snow in an unread book.
Catalogue
One jar of rain to a shelf, still falling.
Holds
Picking weather
Gets out by
Reading
Era
The wall
Used by
The household
On record in
The library of rain, The last unread snowfall, Kept weather, an open question
The midnight library Proposed — not canon until approved
A wood-panelled library at night whose books have opened into rows of teeth. Open in October.
Kept by
Nobody has said, and nobody has asked.
Where
The wall
Access
seasonal
Provenance
Nobody has catalogued it. The books bite.
Catalogue
Under green desk lamps, shelf by shelf, carefully.
Era
The wall
Season
Slopoween
On record in
The midnight library of biting books, Slopoween

Libraries

How it gets out

Libraries

The codex Proposed — not canon until approved

The archive Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

The Slopwright’s sketchbook Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

The Slop Curriculum Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

The field guide Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

The night staff’s noticeboard Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

Lost property Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

The Sardine-Tin Sea Almanac Proposed — not canon until approved

The homepages Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

Ms Quill’s programmes Proposed — not canon until approved

The ledger Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

The biscuit tin Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

The books Restates canon — waits for approval with the rest

The library in the nutshell Proposed — not canon until approved

The library of rain Proposed — not canon until approved

The midnight library Proposed — not canon until approved