"It is quite a bit, isn't it?" she said with a half-sigh, wondering if his comment was a veiled criticism and he was trying to imply she had far too many. Did librarians like it when people checked out a lot of books, because it meant the library was being used, or did they dislike it because it created more work for them than someone coming in and reading books off the shelves would? She could imagine, too, that with a stack such as this someone might think she was being too scattered or indecisive with her selections, and that she ought to narrow it down and leave some books for other patrons interested in the same subject.

"I'm not planning to read them all cover to cover," she explained, with a slight flush. "I'm picking up a new hobby and thought I might need to reference them... but I promise I won't have them out for too long," she continued as she unloaded more of her stack to the cart.