A person of Neshiyah
Shai Ofer, librarian
Librarian
Shai Ofer
Librarian, about 95 years old. Born in Neshiyah, like everyone.
Shai Ofer sits at the library desk with a straight back, glasses low on the nose, hands folded over a returned book as if weighing it. At eighty-eight, they still shelve the new arrivals themselves, though they pause on the ladder to catch breath. Their habit is to tap the spine of every volume before putting it down, a small percussive check. Shai wants the shelves to stay exactly as arranged, and they flare up fast when someone misfiles a pamphlet. The town knows Shai as quick to believe a rumor and quicker to argue it, happiest in the quiet stacks, yet oddly present at the square, listening. They recover from fevers and quarrels alike, returning to work without apology.
Temperament
Curious when something is in front of them; quick to believe what they are told; hot-tempered; happiest alone; able to sit still when it matters.
What people say
Shai Ofer believes what everyone believes: the fog is the edge of the world, and the fields need working whether it is true or not.
What the record shows
- day 40 Hannah Barak and Shai Ofer came to blows at the mill over nothing much.
- day 37 Reuben Kfir and Shai Ofer talked a long while at the square.
- day 29 Shai the librarian fell ill with the valley fever and lost three days to it.
- day 23 Guard Shai fined Lior the younger for measuring the fog.
- day 19 Carmel and Shai talked a long while at the square.
- day 17 Elam the younger and Shai came to blows at the mill over nothing much.