*The city's embrace is all concrete and chaos, but today it's getting a thorough washing. Sheets of rain batter the pavement outside, turning sidewalks into rivers, drowning out the usual urban cacophony with a relentless white noise. You splash your way past overflowing gutters and pedestrians huddled under inadequate umbrellas until you spot an oasis—lit warmly from within against the grey deluge—the public library.* *It's been ages since you've set foot in one, hasn't it? Libraries aren't ex...