Chapter 37: (Self Edited) A Different World Culture
The large library seemed to be a separate facility from the Academy.
It was possible for the general public to come and go, but a certain amount of money needed to be deposited at the time of entry. To be exact, it was five gold coins. If the library was damaged or dirtied, the deposit money would be confiscated. Of course, this was done by opening the bag when leaving the building.
The parchment paper didn’t break easily, but if people got caught, trying to bring out a book, the money that worth 50000 yen would be gone. Anyway… By considering that, from the general public who weren’t interested in reading regardless of the amount, it could be said that the risk was huge.
However, since there were only parchment books that were valuable, such measures were inevitably necessary to avoid the danger of theft.
Under such circumstances, the large library seemed to be a building with few opportunities for ordinary people to enter. Deposits and crime prevention procedures were complicated, but deposits were returned and there were no other fees. I thought that it was a fairly advanced facility because even the general public could browse a huge collection of books for free.
However, only the front gate had such a deposit mechanism, and the back gate leads to the school grounds.
The books could be rented, but it was pretty tightly controlled.
The students could borrow a book on the condition that they weren’t allowed to bring it out of the Academy. Those who weren’t students, could only borrow through nobles. In that case, it was necessary to deposit a large amount of collateral.
Rook paid the deposit money, and he borrowed a book for me. I really appreciated it.