Library of Circlaria, Etymology
In short, "Library of Circlaria," or "the Library of Circlaria" ("LOC" or "the LOC" for short), is an established organization headquartered in the city of Maxima in the ICSR province of Nintel. This organization consists of a network of dymensional plane servers administered by Members attempting to re-create the existing world around them. The ultimate agenda is to do such a deed in the hopes of preserving the human race in the event of any apocalypse occurring in the existing world.
The name "Library of Circlaria" derives from the notion that the servers were once based on algorithms written in paper books. Such technology today is long obsolete but the name remains an unchanged identity among its Members.
Structure:
Library of Circlaria exists currently as a department under the federally-funded National Institute of Research and Development and is governed by three Sections: the Office of the Head Librarians, the Office of the Mediators, and the Membership Caucus. LOC functions as a hierarchy organization consisting of the Library proper and its Subsidiary Libraries. And such a hierarchy is considered "equinominal," meaning that there are no ranks to classify Subsidiary Libraries (other then their associated parent Libraries), and is purposely so to prevent nationalization and imperialism. The main campus of Library of Circlaria is located in Maxima, North of the main campus of the National Institute of Research and Development and consists of the following immediate Subsidiaries: the South Masonia Library of Circlaria, the Hasphitat Library of Circlaria, the Maryk Library of Circlaria, the Pimdan Library of Circlaria, the Jo Reneed Library of Circlaria, the Savel Library of Circlaria, the Tandowyn Library of Circlaria, the Clareon Library of Circlaria (Middle Westerlies), the Weston Library of Circlaria (Meredythian Islands), and the Third Level Society. Under each of those Subsidiaries exists numerous Subsidiaries and sub-hierarchies.
Function:
The agenda of Library of Circlaria proper is to create and maintain a plane imitating the real world while its Subsidiary Libraries create local versions of the LOC proper plane. Meanwhile, the Third Level Society maintains a multilevel Obsession-derived plane featuring quests, gameplay, and deviation from the constraints of realism.
Members of the Library consist of three types: Participants, Contributors, and the Governing Body. Participants pay general admission in the form of a monthly fee to take part in LOC, and do so by creating avatars and having them engage in whatever LOC-affiliated dymensional plane in which they are involved. In the case of the Third Level Society, such engagement would involve taking part in quests and gameplay. Contributors are paid by Administrators to fulfill their role, which involves writing algorithms in order to build or add onto a particular plane, filling it with unmanned avatars, animals, buildings, and events. They also revise existing algorithms in accordance to changes in policy or what the Administrator calls for.
As mentioned before, the Governing Body consists of three Sections: the Membership Caucus, the Office of the Head Librarians, and the Office of the Mediators. The Membership Caucus consists of all Members who vote in LOC-wide elections for candidates for Governing Body leadership positions (i.e. a Head Librarian every three years), and who also vote "yay" or "nay" on policies and policy changes. Although such a duty is not paid, Members will, from time-to-time, appoint Sponsors who carry votes and speak in debates in the Caucus Chamber (either in Maxima or the Chamber whatever Subsidiary Library). Sponsors are paid for their services, as required by the LOC Statute of Principles, and the amount of payment is determined by the Caucus. The Office of the Head Librarians consists of three Head Librarians (since 1412), with each serving a term of nine years and with the nine-year term of each staggered from the other two by three years so that there is an election for one Head Librarian every three years. Head Librarians appoint and supervise Administrators who oversee the dymensional plane and pay Contributors to do necessary work. Administrators also set rules and enforce policies governing their section of the plane. Head Librarians also appoint Officers to the LOC Treasury, which is managed by five such Officers with one of them being the Head Treasurer. The Office of the Mediators is led by a Head Mediator, who presides over four other Mediators. Mediators oversee Caucus functions only to record and interpret voting results for all LOC decisions and functions, and do so in accordance with important checks and balances to prevent biases. Mediators also resolve disputes within the LOC that may arise. The Governing Bodies of each Subsidiary Library function in a similar fashion.
Unique to the establishment of the Library of Circlaria, a Participant from time-to-time may call on a Contributor to create a version of an LOC plane or Third Level Society plane tailored solely to that individual, and will pay the Contributor a Commission to do so.
History and Agenda:
In 1349, representatives from numerous dymensionalism-affiliated organizations met at a Conference at Cabotton University, where they united and formally established the Library of Circlaria. It was here that the immediate Subsidiary Libraries were determined and began the establishment of their hierarchies. The Third Level Society became a Subsidiary as well but was not technically considered a Library (such is true today). Initially, the Governing Body of the LOC had its Head Librarian (only one at the time who served a six-year term) at Cabotton University, the LOC Membership Caucus Chamber in South Masonia, and the Office of the Mediators in Ligam. Each Subsidiary Library kept its original version of its dymensional plane while the Third Level Society kept its gameplay multilevel plane. Meanwhile, the newly-formed Membership Caucus began writing out the LOC "Statute of Principles" and the "Library of Circlaria Dymensional Plane Standards," the latter of which being agreed-upon standards regarding maps and narratives designed to be updated and revised from time-to-time. In 1359, the Head Librarian Office relocated to North Kempton, Nintel (renamed Maxima, Nintel some years later), which would be home to the Third Level Society and its assets in the following year. In 1361, the Head Librarian Office and Third Level Society were joined by the Caucus Chamber and Office of Mediators in the same location, as the organization agreed to have its own facility constructed in the area.
The years that followed saw the renaming of the city of North Kempton to the city of Maxima, and the establishment of the National Institute of Research and Development.
James Lawrence Kontacet enrolled in the Institute in 1381 and joined the Third Level Society shortly thereafter. He was elected Dungeonmaster of the Third Level Society which he served starting in 1383, and was then elected to the position of Head Librarian for the LOC in 1387. He was re-elected to the latter position in 1393. During his tenure as Head Librarian, Kontacet pushed through an ambitious agenda. The first part of this agenda involved the establishment of an actual dymensional plane for Library of Circlaria proper. In the years preceding, only the "Library of Circlaria Dymensional Plane Standards" existed for Library of Circlaria proper while only the Subsidiaries actually built and maintained dymensional planes within the organization. Creating a dymensional plane for LOC proper had been a source of deep controversy over fears of such a plane imposing bias on the entire organization; but nonetheless, Kontacet succeeded in having one established. The second part of the agenda involved having the LOC work with the Leon-Kontacet Trust for the Trust to acquire spellfire businesses, converting them into dymensional-plane-speciality organizations adhering to LOC standards, and eventually selling them to the LOC. For the third part, Kontacet succeeded in securing federal funds from the OPEN Forum in order to officially establish the LOC as a commercial industry in those terms, and then wrote a development plan for Subsidiary Libraries to expand the market for Contributors abroad, along with the Trust-affiliated conversion of spellfire businesses abroad. The first two parts of the agenda succeeded by the time of Kontacet's re-election in 1393, but the development plan for the third part was expected to take years. In 1395, Kontacet announced his run for Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, the election for which he won in 1398.
Endorsed by Kontacet, Timothy Corren became Interim Head Librarian in 1399 after the beginning of Kontacet's tenure as Commonwealth Prime Minister, and won the Caucus Election officially for Head Librarian in 1399. Corren continued Kontacet's policies with the exception of implementing stronger oversight over the development plan. With Kontacet repealing the OPEN Forum and replacing it with a Forum without the OPEN-Forum rules regarding equality in federal funding, so that unprecedented amounts of funding could go toward the LOC, Corren's tenure proved to reflect well on LOC Members. However, starting in December 1399, an economic shakeup brought down stock markets across the Remikran Union of Nations, leading the Federal Credit Royal Bank of Cotts to cease loans toward and demand repayment from the Leon-Kontacet Trust. Although the Trust did not rely solely on the loans for capital, this fallout was enough to force them into bankruptcy and close. Kontacet's federal funding policies were forced to adjust; although Kontacet moved to minimize financial damages to the LOC. Nevertheless, a majority of the Commonwealth population did not favor Kontacet's response to the situation, and, in 1404, voted for Vet Silonk to be the next Prime Minister. Upon taking office, Silonk slashed funding to the LOC, leading to hardship within the organization. Corren was determined to be unable to lead in this environment, and, therefore, lost to Cary Fasem as Head Librarian in the 1405 LOC Caucus Election.
The year 1406 saw LOC-wide scrutiny against Kontacet's agenda. First, the organization-wide dymensional plane for LOC proper still used algorithm books, a dymensional implementation technology over 100 years out-of-date. Second, the Leon-Kontacet Trust, instrumental to the massive build-up of the presence of new Subsidiary Libraries, was dependent on loans from the Great North. Third, Kontacet's development plan aggravated a deep divide in the LOC over whether or not the organization was to exist as a for-profit or a non-profit entity. Proponents of the for-profit model agreed with Kontacet over the lucrative potential of dymensional planes used by the Library while proponents of the non-profit model argued that LOC was, afterall, a department under the National Institute of Research and Development, which was, itself, intended to be a non-profit entity.
Also under scrutiny were Kontacet's ethics. As Head Librarian, Kontacet had appointed special representatives who gave charismatic testimony to the Caucus and Subsidiary Libraries, doing so to push for the for-profit model. He also employed similar tactics to sway Members of Subsidiary Library Caucuses to elect Kontacet-loyal Librarians and to sway spellcrafting businesses to do business with the Leon-Kontacet Trust and join the LOC. Opponents argued that Kontacet had, in effect, implemented a top-down approach to push his agenda in a way that put in jeopardy existing democratic checks within the LOC. They also argued that the development plan to push LOC commercialization abroad amounted to imperialism.
In resolution to such concerns, Head Librarian Cary Fasem signed a change in the Statute of Principles to divide the Office of the Head Librarian into three equal positions. The second Head Librarian would be elected in 1408, and the third in 1411. Each position would serve a nine-year term and would be staggered from the other two by three years. Fasem also eliminated the testimonial roles created by Kontacet, implemented rules against Kontacet's swaying tactics, and suspended all commercialization efforts until other ethics issues were resolved and revisions made. Finally, she implemented an agenda to integrate LOC with advancing scriptfire technologies so that the dymensional planes would not remain dependent on algorithm books.
Between 1410 and 1435, the Commonwealth government allocated priority investments toward the scriptfire industry with the idea that returns from trade in this sector could be used to fund the LOC. The commercial aspect of the LOC was still present but less ambitious than it was under Kontacet. As planned, the LOC followed a continuous trend of converting dymensional planes from algorithm books to scriptfire production technologies. In 1419, the LOC established a dymensional plane server on Planet Nephina, using it to project emerging pieces of the LOC-wide dymensional plane to the international Circlarian market.
In 1429, Mary Ann Heits became Prime Minister of the Commonwealth and re-established the OPEN Forum along with its rules regarding balance in funding. She initially preserved faith in the scriptfire industry by calling on the Forum to fund a new technology known as "avatar scriptfire apparatus testing." The compromise with the LOC was that it would receive funds from the expected plentiful returns to happen in 1434. However, 1434 saw no returns from this and the Commonwealth economy entered a brief period of instability. In 1435, Steven Mauter was elected on of the three Head Librarians of the LOC as he publicly decried the OPEN Forum's funding priorities for being unreliable and called on the Forum to give the LOC more direct priority. More pro-Library advocates joined the Forum in its yearly election that year. In 1436, acting on behalf of the calls made by Mauter, Prime Minister Heits called for the OPEN Forum to roll back scriptfire industry funding and re-allocate it to the LOC, which in turn used the new funds for "free advertising" platforms in its dymensional plane. In September 1439, all immediate Subsidiary Libraries to the LOC proper voted in favor of adopting the official LOC logo. In 1441, the OPEN Forum reduced scriptfire funding to "handoff allocation" status while the LOC saw the nomination of Marshall Corbin to another of the three Head Librarian positions, working next to Mauter. The LOC Caucus voted to withdraw its "free advertising" platforms in 1443 after a call made by Corbin, who condemned this as an act of commercialization and called for "holistic branding" on behalf of the LOC, itself. In 1444, the LOC established the Universal International Recruitment Platform, which has since been launching promotions for people abroad to join and promotions for businesses to convert to LOC standards and join as Subsidiaries. Opponents to this platform voiced concerns over this being a repeat of Kontacet's agenda and the established logo amounting to LOC becoming a franchise. However, proponents argue that the Recruitment Platform does not implement Kontacet's aggressive coercion tactics but instead presents soft promotions leaving clients to decide. Furthermore, although all immediate Subsidiary Libraries had voted to adopt the LOC logo, they are still allowed to display their own logos.
Aside from the controversies, Library of Circlaria stands today as a leading industrial force in the Commonwealth.