The head of Selivanov's Shironinsky reading room offers Lyosha a deal. The Council of Librarians decides to settle the conflict between the two reading rooms by fighting.
Lyosha is offered to become a librarian. By order of a member of the Shulga Council, the Shironinsky reading room is threatened by torchbearers destroying books.
The Shironinskaya reading room stands up for Nizhny Novgorod and prepares for battle. Lyosha finds out how his father died, and is looking for a traitor among his own.
Lyosha intends to gather his father's supporters, dissolve the council and arrange fair elections. During the meeting, Lyosha is betrayed by his reader.
The Council appoints the librarian of the Shironinsky reading room vainglorious Vyrin. The Shironinites are trying to figure out how to save Lyosha from prison.
The comrades learn the truth about Selivanova. In order for her to remember where the Book of Meaning is, the people of Shironin need to find the Book of Memory.
Shironintsy are looking for a Book of Meaning in a boarding school in Neverbino. Shulga gathers an army to get ahead of them, and promises a reward for Lyosha's head.
