A Tiny Library: 7 Do's (+ 2 Maybe Nots)

Some thoughts & tips on turning ordinary shelves into a reader's dream corner ❤️.

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When I was in high school I had a friend who lived in a beautiful house on a beautiful street right down the block from the Great South Bay. It wasn’t a huge house, per se, but it had character. And by character, I mean interesting paint colors that weren’t beige and lots of unusual things to look at. She was the friend who always seemed to be coming back with her family from some faraway trip, and whenever I would come over after school there was inevitably a new dress or piece of art to lose our minds over.

But despite all the otherworldly treasures, there was one feature in their house that I became almost possessed by, so much so that I can still see it in my mind’s eye decades later—a tiny library tucked away in a small loft space over the living room that you could only access from a Harry Potter-style cast-iron spiral staircase. It was the first thing I would always look for when we entered her house, and from the living room door, my eyes would always gravitate to the single lounge chair visible through the latticed metal border that prevented a nosy 15-year-old from nosediving straight down into the living room.

I never saw anyone up there but my friend’s father, and even he never seemed to be enjoying it as much as I imagined I would if I lived there. I mean, if that floating birdhouse library was in my home growing up, I never would have left the house. Never. I loved books…like REALLY loved them (my mom can definitely vouch for this🤓). I even have a few from when I was my daughter’s age, which she likes to call her own (they are not:). I still love books, mostly old and obscure ones about design, artists, architecture, and most definitely other writers I love whose books I often read over and over again.