There has been disconcerting news that the Drifters, during their incursions, have been torturing monks that they captured at a deep space monastery, just to find out the limits of their endurance. May God give them strength and reward their for their martyrdom.
I am not sure what I can contribute against that threat, but I am grateful that Baron Redwolfe leads the counter-incursion fleets. So, both to take my mind off the atrocities reported in the news, and to help the baron where I can best, I went back to Neyi IV, to the Tetrimon Order of Saint Jamyl Monastery.
We recently provided climate control units for the Monastery's library so now I went back to inspect them. I found the place much improved; the units work well, and also repairs and proper insulation at the windows have been completed.
Along with those repairs, the layout of the library itself, like many monastic libraries, helps keep the books in good condition. As is typical, it has long and fairly narrow rooms with vents to protect against damp atmosphere, with thick walls to keep temperature from following daily fluctuations. The lecterns project at right angles from the windows, providing adequate lighting, and they have slightly angular surfaces to lay out the books without straining the backs of the bindings. There are shelf lists affixed to the lecterns, to catalog the books on the nearby shelves - the precursor of the modern library catalog. Rules as these were laid out long ago in the Instructiones Custodem Librorum by Saint Aloysius of the Quill, a blessed doctor of the faith that I often pray to and hold very dear in my personal venerations.
