The Romance of Libraries Project

Madeleine Lefebvre writes: “When ALA and the Canadian Library Association jointly held their
conference in Toronto in 2003, I was a speaker in the Great Debate.
During the question period, a librarian told the story of how he and his
wife had bought from his library the study table at which they met, and
now they use it in their dining room.

That story gave me the impetus to write a book of true stories of people
who met and fell in love in libraries. I want to contact that librarian
– does anyone know who he is? If so, please tell him to email me
directly. And for details of the project, please see my website at
www.libraryromance.com. If anyone else has a story to tell, I would love
to hear from them via my email or website.“

July 22, 2004 by Uncategorized 9

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9 Responses

  1. Bookworm says:
    July 22, 2004 at 4:57 pm

    love among the stacks
    My first thoughts on reading this were: Hmm, I wonder what style of library table it was – Mission, Shaker and was it oak? Although I think Ms. Lefebvre’s book sounds like it would be fun to read, I do wonder if it will be a big seller. If she publishes it herself and sells it at various library associations – or better yet in the bookstores of MLIS programs, she’ll probably make a lot of people smile. Her website is cute – very simple. I’d be interested to learn how many responses she’s been getting. Guess we’ll have to stay tuned! It would be interesting to me to hear if any of the readers of LISNews happened to attend that conference in Toronto in 2003?

    Reply
  2. birdie says:
    July 22, 2004 at 5:17 pm

    Re:love among the stacks
    Agreed, cute website and an appealing concept. Ah, love. Hope you all write in with your stories. We exhibited at the ALA/CLA conference, but managed to avoid both SARS and the love bug.

    Reply
  3. slashgirl says:
    July 22, 2004 at 6:53 pm

    love in the stacks
    Ah, yes. Love. During my brief tenure at a senior High School (grades 10-12) I spent many a noon hour walking amongst the stacks. For some reason, the library was a popular “make out” place and the way the stacks were, I couldn’t see between them from my desk. Thus the stack patrol and asking the kids to not do that in the library and secondly to not sit on the floor.

    Yep. I was a party pooper. *G*

    One of many reasons I prefer working with the little kids…

    s/

    Reply
  4. Bookworm says:
    July 22, 2004 at 7:24 pm

    What is love?
    slashgirl, your story reminds me of the troupe of newsmen in “Anchorman” breaking into song a cappella with “Afternoon Delight”!

    I wonder if this book cataloguing romance in the library will include a section on adulterous trysts, as well…though, really, I think I’d prefer that it didn’t. I’d rather smile in recognition of the innocent love stories within the halls of knowledge.

    Reply
  5. LibraryRomance says:
    July 28, 2004 at 5:14 pm

    Re:love among the stacks
    I thought you might like an update on the project. To date, I have over 80 stories and more are arriving daily. I now have stories from the US, Canada, Mexico, England, Ireland, South Africa, and Australia. They make fascinating, funny and touching reading. Some are from Library school students, others from couples married for over 50 years. And yes, there are some racy ones.

    The book will be published in 2005 by Scarecrow Press, and is planned to be ready for conference season.

    I still haven’t heard from the mystery dining table person!

    Reply
  6. Bookworm says:
    July 28, 2004 at 7:26 pm

    Re: your update
    Wonderful news – so glad your library love project is drawing so many stories!

    Can you tell me who and what you’re referring to as the “mystery dining table person”? I must have missed this one.

    And, do you envision the book being sold in retail bookstores? I hope so – I have a feeling the visits at local libraries are going to go up. 😉

    Reply
  7. LibraryRomance says:
    July 28, 2004 at 7:40 pm

    Re: your update
    If you look back to Blake’s post that started this thread, you’ll see where the dining table comes in. It’s also mentioned on my website.
    Yes, I do hope the book will be in retail stores, and certainly available through the ALA store. Some stories are from library patrons who met at the library, so I hope the book will have some general appeal. And I’m already seeing some patterns emerge that will enable me to include tips on how best to find romance at the library!

    Reply
  8. LibraryRomance says:
    July 29, 2004 at 5:45 pm

    Re:love among the stacks
    The website was created by a new graduate of Dalhousie Library School, Victoria Sigurdson. You can learn more about her and her graduating class at http://www.mgmt.dal.ca/slis/Prospectus/index.html

    Reply
  9. birdie says:
    July 29, 2004 at 6:03 pm

    Re: your update
    I turned Blake on to your book project (well, not really “turned on”…we’re both happily married to others) and I’m so glad it’s going well. Hope you can give us snippets of some of the stories, like you know, “look inside the book” or something…
    Best of luck with the project! Birdie

    Reply

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