"Why better at home?"

Because the librarian doesn't want noise or disruption or awkward debates about religion that anyone might walk in on - she can't say that to Iomedae - she probably should, actually, try to just say what she's thinking, she meant to do that and she shouldn't give up on it just because it's awkward. 

She keeps her voice low. "Because I think both of us are going to have a lot of - feelings and opinions - and like I said before, in America it's rude to talk about religion in public, since people who worship other gods, or don't believe in God at all, might also come to this library?"

Sigh. "....I haven't read through the Bible since I was - maybe in high school, I'm not sure, but definitely before I was twenty, and that was thirty years ago. I - have different feelings about it now, than I would have then. I've been trying not to show it, because we're in the library and it'd be weird. But I'd prefer to read through the Bible with you where I didn't have to worry about what other people would think."

It seems to Iomedae like the height of insanity, to be unable to discuss events documented in history books in public if gods were involved. To not make claims about what the gods want, sure, she can see how that'd get tense fast in a society that can't verify it. But surely the gods were active in the world when they were approving their holy books -

"Evelyn, did this god send this book to someone in a vision, or send a person bringing it, or come herself to write it?"

Since when does God get female pronouns??? That's so bizarre, especially given that Jesus definitely seems to get male pronouns. 

"I - think some parts of it are supposed to have been divine revelations, yeah. It wasn't written all at once, there are a lot of sections in the Bible from different periods, and of course the New Testament is way newer. I think God did directly give Moses the Ten Commandments? That's a later story." Shrug. "For a lot of it I think we don't know exactly. It was a really long time ago and history was a lot less written down because fewer people could read or write." 

"I see. Thank you." It does seem like the kind of thing you'd lose track of when a god stopped choosing priests.

"We can Google it when we get home. I know there are a lot of Biblical scholars who study scripture and I think some of them focus on figuring out when and how it was written, it's just not really something that came up at the church I go to." 

Does Iomedae want to maybe also look for some science books? ...Ooh the library has a hardcover copy of The Way Things Work. Jeremy adored that book when he was a kid and it's probably very good for learning vocabulary even if the girls aren't quite at the level of reading it themselves yet. And maybe they can find a book about the human body aimed at older preteens; Evelyn has picture books at home but they're mostly targeting the toddler age group. And an illustrated book about world geography and history seems like a good idea for educational purposes, they can learn the American words for all the continents and other countries. 

Iomedae will be quiet and go along with further book suggestions.

And Evelyn is shortly later very relieved to have interrupted the Bible debate, because another family just showed up - she knows them casually, their fifteen-year-old daughter Abbie was in Teagan's class and the younger twin boys attend Lily's primary school, she's seen the mom in the playground. Evelyn has no idea if they go to church. Not that it would be zero mortifying to have someone from church walk in on her having a bizarre Biblical debate with Iomedae, but she wouldn't feel right shutting down the entire conversation over it. (She doesn't feel great about that now, either, but Iomedae really does need to learn how to avoid making people uncomfortable. It's an important skill for getting along in America, particularly in a high school.) 

Does Alfirin seem to be finding books she's interested in? Evelyn will smile and wave at Abbie's parents and then go see if Alfirin needs help. 

Alfirin has found a few books she wants and has been carrying them around in a stack as she wanders between shelves. There's two about animals, and one about trains and one about architecture and a book about all the planets that should tell her if America knows about Golarion. She will probably not be able to read all of them in two weeks.

Evelyn will wander a bit longer; the library is nice to hang out in. She finds an illustrated book about the discovery of germ theory and advances in medicine over the last few hundred years, and a book specifically on the history of the ancient world; the history book she already grabbed is approximately medieval-period-through-19th-century. ...She considers a book on WW2 and decides that she doesn't think the girls are quite ready for that yet. Maybe next week.

She wants to spend a few minutes catching up with Abbie's parents and asking Abbie how her classes are going this year, and then they can check the books out at the desk and head home for lunch and reading. 

"Where you''re from," she asks Alfirin in Taldane, "do they say that Pharasma was not happy with the early humans so drowned them all but her followers in a big flood?"

"...No? If she was not happy with early humans she would just not make them?"

"That is what I thought also. This holy book claims that, but it does not really make any sense to me. The other things it claims make more sense. Probably the people here have misunderstood because the gods are quiet here? But it seems a particularly big and baffling misunderstanding. I guess maybe if there was a big flood that killed everyone and Pharasma saved Her followers they'd assume She also did the flood, if they were ignorant."

"Yes. Probably some other god made the flood."

"That makes more sense. They also claim that the gods made men first and then made women to help them, which is not how I was taught but also wasn't really an emphasis so I can't say it's an actual difference in how the worlds were created."

"That does not make any sense, does it say they made all the male animals first, too? I think the breeding parts do not do anything else, why would they make a bunch of male animals with male breeding parts if they were not making females at the same time?"

"I asked Evelyn about the animals and she had no idea. Maybe the first animals had no breeding parts at all but they were other than that more like men than like women, because the ideal form if you don't have to bear children is the male one? ...or Americans have a stupid wrong holy book because they can't talk to the gods, it could also be that. But it seems like a strange bit for anyone to have tampered with in the course of its transmission - what do you get out of claims about the order of creation?"

"I do not know. Maybe it was a mistake?"

"Maybe. I think I want to talk to - not Evelyn, someone who does interpretation of the holy books and thinks about things like this all the time. But probably that should wait until we are less ignorant about America so I do not ask revealing questions."

And she'll go catch up with Evelyn at the doors.

Evelyn is awfully curious what they were just talking about, and has no intention of asking. She smiles at both of them and leads the way back to the car. She doesn't start a conversation on the drive back, but definitely has some sort of vague past-experiences superstitious feeling that an important fraught conversation is going to happen to her anyway. 

Nope! Iomedae is not sure where it is permissible to talk about the CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE, a FAIRLY IMPORTANT TOPIC in America and will follow Evelyn's lead.

It's still a little early for lunch. Maybe they can sit down and look at The Way Things Work together?

...Quick clarification, the rotation of the Earth is not actually powered by a hand crank! This page is being silly! 

They can read about mechanics and the physical principles behind movement! There's probably a lot of new vocabulary here to learn, as well as the actual concepts of simple machines like ramps, levers, gears, wheels, and springs.

For some reason the entire section is accompanied by mammoth-themed drawings. The page on the inclined plane, which explains the principle behind ramps, has an entire little story about dropping rocks on mammoths' heads to stun and capture them. Evelyn quickly pauses to explain that the story is definitely fictional, mammoths are actually extinct and their closest living relatives don't have wooly hair. But inclined planes are totally real! 

Iomedae does not know enough about planets or mammoths to be surprised by any of this.