Longtime librarian Elsie Cundy registers new acquisitions in a thick handwritten ledger. She then pastes one of Sseven personalized bookplates on each of the 10,000 books.

Visitors to the library often ask about the hundreds of College Inn broth cans supporting book-laden shelves. Why broth cans? “Because,” a poker-faced Blank says, “they are cheaper than tomato juice cans.”