"I haven't been to the public library since I was a little kid," I said to Ian, as we walked through the doors.

"Me neither. It's big."

"Bigger than I remember."

"Think they'll have what we need?"

"If they don't, I'm sure they know where to find it."

We went up to the desk across the room, with "INFORMATION" over it. Ian was distracted by a poster advertising a teen book club, but I knew what I wanted. I just wasn't sure if I could come out and say it.

A pleasant woman with red-framed glasses looked up at me. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, we - Ian, come here - we're looking for books on . . ." I took a deep breath and summoned up all my courage. "On gay relationship issues."

"Ah." She nodded. "Are you looking for any specific titles?"

"Not really. Just, um, general knowledge, that kind of thing."

"I see." She typed something into her computer. "I have Gay and Lesbian Rights: a Guide to GLBT Issues."

"I don't know about that. Maybe something a little more personal and less legal?"

"How about A Gay Man's Guide to Dating and Relationships?"

"Yeah, I think that'll do. Ian, what do you -?" I looked over at where Ian had been a moment ago, but of course he wasn't there. "Could you hold it for us, please?"

"My pleasure. Your name?"

I gave her my name and then went looking for my wandering partner.

It was a big place. The library I'd been to as a child had only been one room. Of course, that was in 1928, so they didn't have an audio/visual section or a computer lab. Neither of which, by the way, I found Ian in. I kept looking.

The library's magazine collection had a whole room to itself. In addition to the current issues on the racks, there were boxes packed with just about every magazine ever published. Curious, I browsed through them before remembering I was supposed to be looking for Ian. I moved on.

There were two Men's rooms on the first floor, and three on the second. Ian was in none of them.

I was about to give up and go back to the Information desk to have him paged when I saw a sign that said "CHILDREN'S ROOM". I knew it was a long shot, but it was the one place I hadn't tried yet.

Sure enough, there he was, standing against one wall and thumbing through a paperback with a bright cover. He looked so huge next to the tiny furniture.

"Can you believe it?" he said when he saw me. "They still have the Bobbsey Twins! My sister and I used to read these books all the time! Did you know they were here?"

"No, I didn't," I said. "Can we get what we came for and just go?"

"But we just got here!"

"I've been looking for you forever! I told you to stay with me!"

"No, you didn't."

"Well, maybe not in so many words, but I meant it!"

"I want to look some more."

I sighed. There was no reasoning with him sometimes. "Fine. Meet me where we came in, in -" I checked my watch -"half an hour. Can you do that?"

"Uh huh," he said, already lost in the book again.

"Did you know they have movies here?"

"Yeah. Get one."

"Okay. Remember what I said. Half an hour, upstairs where we came in. Okay?"

"I know."

I left him there and went back to Audio/Visual. It was a pretty big section. The movies were lined up alphabetically along two of the three walls, and the third was full of what I found out were books on CD.

I didn't know what I was looking for, so I just walked up and down scanning the titles. Seen that one. Seen it. They have that? Well, at least no one has to pay money for it. That one's boring.

It seemed that I would never find one, until my eyes fell on the middle of a row.

A giant robot stared back at me.

I have a deep and abiding love for all things mecha, as evidenced by my collection of scale-model Japanese robot figures. (Do not call them toys!) I spend a lot of time in the anime shop at the mall, checking out new series.

Battle Bot 3000? What was that about?

I didn't care. I had to have it, if only for a week.

I looked around and picked up something I thought Ian would like, then went to see about getting myself a library card so I could check them out.

The helpful lady at the Information desk remembered me from before. "Are you ready to check out?"

"Yeah, about that . . . I don't have a card yet."

"Okay. What you want to do is go over to the other desk, right where you first came in. You'll need an ID."

I had one. "Does it cost anything?"

"Not for the initial card, but if you have to replace it, it's two dollars. So don't lose it."

"I won't."

The woman at the other desk was so tiny that I could barely see her over the counter. She looked like a ten-year-old, but she had a name badge on. Her name, I saw, was BRENDA.

"Can I help you?"

I explained about needing a library card, and she nodded and pulled out some kind of form.

"Fill this out, and I'll just need to see your ID." She handed me a pen, but the first one didn't work, so she had to find another one. This one was fine.

When I was done, I slid it across the counter. She looked at it and copied some stuff from my ID. I tried to see what she was writing, but I can't really read well upside-down.

"Whatcha doing, Channy?" Ian had finally caught up with me.

"I'm getting myself a library card."

"Why?"

"So I can check out our stuff." I showed him the movie I'd picked out for him. "Is this okay?"

"Out to Sea?" What's that about?"

"It's The Odd Couple on a cruise ship. It's funny, you'll like it. Do you want to get a card of your own?"

"No," he said. "I trust you. What's that thing?" He was looking at my movie.

"It's an anime series about giant robots."

"Oh."

Brenda came back clutching a shiny white rectangle of plastic. "Here you go," she said. "Let me just check these out for you, and we'll be good to go."

"Thank you so much."

She scanned the movies first, and Ian saw the book. "What's that?"

I gave him the look. "That's what we came in for. Remember?"

"I didn't think they actually had it."

"Well, they have it. They have everything."

"Almost everything," Brenda said. "But if we don't have it here, you might be able to request it from one of the other libraries in the system."

"Other libraries?" Ian was leaning on the desk, gazing at her with rapt interest. "There are others?"

"There are twenty-two altogether, and we can also search for it on another library network if none of them have it."

"How long does it take?" I asked her.

"It depends. If it's a popular request, or it has to come from a long way away, it could take weeks. Normally it takes between two and three weeks. If you register at our website, you'll get e-mail alerts when your requests are ready. You can also request books right over the computer. Not just books - movies, music, even some magazines. I've got a handout here that explains everything." She tucked a bright blue leaflet into the book. "The movies are due back in a week, the book in three weeks. Once you're registered online, you can renew through the site, too, if you need to."

"Wow." I was impressed. Libraries sure had changed. Then again, in seventy years, everything had changed.

"Have a good day now!" she called out, as we went through the double doors.

"I want to watch my movie first," Ian said.

"You've got to read some of the book."

"That's not fair!"

"I'll be reading it, too. We'll take turns."

"Fine. You can go first. I'm watching my movie."

"Whatever."

"Can we come back here again?"

"We'll have to, next week, to return the movies."

"Can I check out one of the Bobbsey Twins books?"

I had to laugh. "Ian, don't ever change."