TheGoq: You can surely ask either the author or the library.
However, imagine yourself as an author who slaved away at this book. You have a book promotion coming up at a neighborhood library.
One of your fans appreciates you so much but cannot afford to buy your book at the book signing for whatever reason, but really wants to meet you in person.
This fan would come out of one’s way just to be there. Even some of the people buying your book that wouldn’t necessarily plan to see you. They could have just been there at the time, or came along with a friend or something.
But someone who really wants to meet you and cares about what you wrote, this person. Imagine if someone told you that this fan wasn’t going to show up because it didn’t seem right to stop by without buying a book. What a shame! What a gift it is to meet someone who cares about what you read! That’s priceless.
TheGoq — Your presence alone will be a blessing! At least, I would appreciate it. I have been to book signings and I think that authors really appreciate it when someone takes the time to see them, and let them know how much their book made a difference in one’s life. That’s all. If you can do that, you have no clue what kind of gift that is. Seriously.