Morris agreed, although she was surprised by the process. She got to add an illustrator's note to the manuscript, asking that the three librarians look completely different. Otherwise, the artistry is completely Sneed's creation.

"I see the advantages," Morris said. "You want to have the illustrator's creativity at work. He told me he visited a lot of older Carnegie libraries to get ideas."

Sneed will bring slides to a book signing tonight at the Provo library to show the evolution of the book's illustrations. At 7 p.m. Morris and Sneed will sign books, which will be on sale for $14.

Morris had always wanted to write a book — as a girl in Spokane, Wash., as a student at Brigham Young University and then as a Provo librarian since 1979. The book she wrote on indexing newspapers didn't scratch the itch.

"I'm fascinated by the idea of coming up with a story and having it live on in the minds of children," she said.

She had no idea the project could take so long, a problem exacerbated at the end by the fact so many books are printed overseas.

"It's a long process," she said. "I don't know how anybody makes money on books."

If the second printing sells like the first, she just might find out. Peachtree will look for an international publisher next month at a children's book fair in Italy.

"The thing that's wonderful about a book like Carla's is I suspect it will sell well for many, many years," Landwehr said, "which means Carla will make money for many, many years."

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com