Books come in; books go out — it’s the nature of a library to have a constant ebb and flow of things to read. At Brown Library, however, books aren’t the only items coming and going. There’s art, too.

Currently, the work of Neil and Meredith Loughlin is on display in the Fiction section of the library, and, in its quest for a temporary landing spot until a permanent home is achieved, the Douglas Alvord mural of the Historic Port of Washington has found an appropriate place, right above the local history room.

“It’s in the main reading room, right over the door for the history room,” said Ray Midgett, a Historic Port of Washington Project organizer. “It’s pretty visible there.”

The mural depicts a Washington waterfront melding its cityscape from 1880 to 1920 — the height of its maritime activity. In October, the mural was unveiled during the first Historic Port of Washington exhibit at the Turnage Theater Gallery. Until the Port of Washington Project finds a home, however, the mural will be on the move.

“We were pleased with the reception that it got at the exhibit. There was a lot of interest, a lot of comments,” Midgett said. “A lot of people told us what they thought was right about it and what was wrong about it. But we wanted that. … It served its purpose and generated a lot of interest in the maritime history of Washington and we hope to carry forward with that.”

Until the end of the year, the mural will be on display at the library, then both it, and some other Port of Washington exhibits, will take over space in the old Atlantic Railroad Passenger Terminal adjoining the Washington Civic Center and the home of the Beaufort County Arts Council for many years.

Deeper in the library, the work of the Loughlins, owners of Lone Leaf Gallery & Custom Framing in Washington, can be found. Both photographers, the couple’s work varies greatly. His is digitally enhanced, and sometimes the product of more than one photograph, creating semi-fictional, dreamlike places through the use of instant film, scanning and merging photographs.

“With my current body of work, I wanted to explore the beauty and mystery of the Old North State, but approach it in an way where I would be painting with imagery, as though a painter with a brush,” Neil Loughlin wrote in a statement.

Meredith Loughlin’s work tacks together images seamlessly, recreating both the seen and the unseen in photo-based collages.

“With this series, I try to create rare glimpses into the peaceful abyss between reality and meditation,” Meredith Loughlin wrote.

The Loughlins’ work will be on display through the end of November. For more information about their work, visit loneleafgallery.com. For more information about the Historic Port of Washington Project, visit its Facebook page.

Brown Library is located at 122 Van Norden Street in Washington.