Sure, they can go back now. Though if there's anything they might want from the library they should get it now; the closer ones are much smaller.

They have the Internet for getting books!

They can borrow things here that they won't be able to get online for free, though. And they can talk to the librarians if they have trouble finding what they're looking for.

Sure! How about books on musical instrument design and - 

- one of the Elves elbows another - 

- right, prisons and institutions, that is what they're here for.

She chuckles and takes them to look up the call numbers for both of those, and explains how checking books out works; the upshot is they can keep them indefinitely so long as nobody else requests them.

Cool! They'll bring them back as soon as the scribes back home have made copies.

...okay. That's not exactly legal but it's not like they'll actually get in trouble for it. It might make more sense to just buy their own copies of the books, though, if they have a way of getting money.

They're still only sort of clear on the concept and not sure how they'd get some! But the princesses'll probably think of something, the princesses are terrifyingly good at that kind of thing.

They can probably figure something out. Anyway, here's the books, they can borrow as many as they like.

...keeping in mind that they're going to have to haul them all out to the truck and from the truck to the house, mind.

They will only take a few, books are precious.

...not really? Or, yes, but not like that; most hardcover books like these cost about what someone could earn in three to six hours at minimum wage; paperbacks are even cheaper, more like two or three hours.

...but it takes a really long time to copy books.

Nope, they've got machines for that. Shaney's not sure how they do it these days, but the printing press is famous for having been a big deal when it came out. (There turn out not to be any books about printing presses in the adult section, but there is a kids book with illustrations they might find useful; she adds it to the pile for them.)

They are super excited about this!

Shaney is enjoying playing guide.

...she read a thing recently about how some libraries have 3D printers now; if this is one of those they should see it before they go. She asks a librarian.

It is! The librarian shows them the room it's in and sets up a demonstration for them.

Oh wow. They should send some engineers through, they'll be so delighted.

Sure, they can do that. She expects there to be stuff about making 3D printers online - maybe printing presses, too, but 3D printers are definitely the kind of thing there's usually DIY instructions for.

Earth is so cool for being so horrible a place to live.

It does have its upside, yes.

More books?

Yes!!!

She's somehow not surprised. (Elves are so cute when they're enthusiastic.)

She shows them how to look up books by call number and leaves them to it while she asks a librarian about obscure classical music and what genres are most similar-sounding, and picks out some music CDs and a DVD for the kids.

They will leave with substantially more books!

A successful trip! She plays a couple of CDs for them on the ride home - what do they think of jazz?

What instruments are all of those, what do they look like, how are they made -

Jazz is mostly brass instruments - saxophones are the famous one for jazz, but also trumpets and trombones - and drums and piano, and some of the tracks have string instruments too, probably violin but she's not sure. She can show them pictures when they get home; most of those instruments are probably made by machines but some of them can probably be made by hand, like, violins and pianos have been around since before they started making things by machine so those definitely can be, but she's not sure about saxophones.