By Frampton Jones

In the months since his arrival on our island, Paul Jarman has made a number of startling suggestions. That libraries should be places where people can go to read and borrow books has divided opinions. Many young islanders are taken with the notion of having more reading material than my humble newssheet. A fair few people like the idea of a library as a place you might visit, not nervously avoid.

Our deceased Librarian Theophrastus Frog has maintained however, that people are not good for books and that frequently, books are not good for people and it is best to keep the two separately.

The launch of The New Hopeless Maine Library for People Who Want to Read was initially a success. Many book owners donated from their own collections, and offered their own writings. As a consequence, Paul Jarman’s new library had dozens of books in it, and regular visitors. However, in recent days things have taken a dramatic turn.

Paul’s body was found this morning, in a blood spattered scene that spoke all too clearly of murder. Paul’s ghost was very much resident at the scene as well, but unable to say anything useful about how he had died. What he did say, goes as follows.

“I understand now. Some books are not good for people. Some books should be hidden away. I must remain here now, and make sure that the books are safe from the people, and that the people are safe from the books.”

So now we have two libraries with ghostly librarians who see it as their job to keep people out, and frankly, I do not believe this to be a coincidence.