The comic-book library closes

The comic-book library closes after a fight started by neighborhood bullies, ending Robert and Mike’s first business. Its shutdown turns a practical setback into the culmination of Rich Dad’s lesson: working without wages had pushed the boys to create a venture that could earn money independently of their labor.

The Library’s Operation

The library had opened in an unused basement room in Mike’s mother’s house, stocked with hundreds of comics that the boys obtained from a distributor on the condition that they work at the store and never resell the books. Mike’s younger sister, who loved to study, managed the room. For ten cents, neighborhood children could read as many comics as they liked during the two hours after school, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.; five or six comics would have cost the same amount if bought individually.

Mike’s sister checked that children did not take books away and kept a daily record of attendance, customers’ names, and comments. Across three months, the business averaged $9.50 a week. The boys paid her one dollar weekly and let her read comics for free, though she rarely did because she was usually studying. Robert and Mike kept their agreement with the distributor by not selling the books, burning copies once they became too tattered. Their attempt to open a branch failed because they could not find someone as trustworthy and dedicated as Mike’s sister, an early lesson in the difficulty of finding good staff.

The Closure

Three months after the library opened, bullies from another neighborhood pushed their way into the room and started a fight. Mike’s father suggested that the boys shut down the business, and they did. The closure also ended their Saturday work at the convenience store: with the comic-book venture finished, they stopped collecting comics from the different stores under their agreement with the distributor.

The episode ends not with the library recovering or expanding, but with its owners accepting the consequences of the disruption. The boys had already tried to grow the business through a branch, but the shortage of reliable help had limited that possibility; the fight brought the original operation to an end.

What the Experiment Taught

Rich Dad was excited by the shutdown because he had new things to teach the boys and believed they had learned their first lesson well: they had learned to have money work for them. Since the store work did not pay them, Robert and Mike had to use their imagination to identify another way to earn money. Their library put them in control of their own finances rather than making them dependent on an employer.

The business’s significance lies in the contrast between its brief existence and the kind of income it produced. It generated money even when the boys were not physically present, so its value, in Rich Dad’s account, was not measured only by how long it stayed open. He had given them no wages for their labor at the store; instead, the experience had led them to make an enterprise that could earn on its own. The library’s closure therefore concludes the venture while affirming the financial lesson Rich Dad drew from it.