Alembic

An alembic: a vessel used in alchemy to distill substances, separating them out from one another.

A library is much like an alembic, isn’t it? Distilling the knowledge into different categories, everything in the right place, according to a science, a system.

There are other ways in which The Library is like an alembic. It transforms that which enters it, and books are not the only things that enter the library.

Just as the alchemist transforms a substance, they transform the self.

Just as the reader consumes the book, so too, does the book consume them. Just as they refine the knowledge into hypothesis, then, thesis, conclusion, so too does the book refine, define, and redefine the reader.

Be careful in The Library, lest you become distilled into something you did not want to become.

Perhaps if you’re reading this, it’s too late, and you’ve already become transformed…takobon.