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Anatole France's comic novel follows Monsieur Julien Sariette, a caretaker charged with the task of caring for an immensely large and valuable family library. A total of three hundred thousand rare books constitute the d'Esparvieu family's collection. Faced with insurmountable difficulty caring for them alone, the family hire Sariette - a librarian and caretaker whose fastidiousness is scarcely rivalled. Yet one morning, as Sariette enters the library, he realises that much of it has been left in complete disorder. Worse still, several of the rare tomes have gone missing. Distressed, Sariette informs his employers - who immediately order better locks and security installed. Defying all expectation, the thefts and cluttering of the collection continue, to the point where Sariette is distressed almost to the point of insanity.