What does the library hold?

The library began as a single shelf of games that members were tired of carrying home, and it now occupies the whole corner by the window. It holds board games of every length, strategy games with miniatures, role-playing rulebooks and campaign settings, and a drawer of dice that no one will claim.

Any member may borrow a game for a week, free of charge, and renew it for a further week if nobody else has asked for it. The borrower signs the book, counts the pieces on leaving and counts them again on return. A game that comes back with a piece missing is not a cause for reproach; it is a cause for a search of every coat pocket in the room. The book itself is a ledger of some antiquity, kept in the green ink that the editor uses for finals.

A Warden looks after the shelves and keeps the book, and is usually to be found there in the quarter hour before the doors open, with a duster and a cup of tea. Members are encouraged to recommend games, in person or through the chat server, and each season a few are added from the suggestions made at the opening evening. Members who wish to give a game to the library are asked to leave it with the Warden for a fortnight, so that it may be tested, ranked for length and, if it passes, shelved.

The collection is arranged by length of play rather than by title, since members rarely remember a name and almost always remember how long a game took. Games for an hour sit on the lowest shelf, games for an evening on the middle shelf, and games that may need a cloth and a week on the top, within reach of anyone prepared to use the sturdy stool.

Every box is checked by the Warden each quarter, and the checks are made at the long table with tea. Worn boxes are repaired with tape and patience, missing pieces are replaced with whatever is to hand, and a record is kept of every repair so that future members may marvel at it. Rulebooks may be borrowed as well, although one that has been written in by a previous owner is regarded as a relic.