Books

5 Reasons Libraries Are The Best Place For A Date

by Emma Oulton

We can all agree on this: libraries are pretty much heaven, right? Even before you get to the books, there are a million ways to entertain yourself in a library: listening to the records; checking out the films; reading newspaper archives; solving all the New York Times crosswords since 1942. There’s free Wi-Fi, too — so you can waste just as much time on Twitter as you would at home in your bedroom, but you can do it surrounded by books. And, oh boy, those books. You can read them, browse them, stroke them, smell them; I once licked one, but I wouldn’t recommend that.

Libraries are the best place to hang out on a lazy afternoon, the best place to get schoolwork done, the best place to escape the world — and they’d most likely be the best place to hide in a zombie apocalypse, too. But have you ever considered that a library might be the ideal place for a date?

Libraries have got a pretty romantic history. In Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Paul tells Holly he loves her in a library; the Beast gives Belle a library as a symbol of his love in Beauty and the Beast; and in the library in Atonement, Robbie and Cecilia take things a little further… basically, libraries have love in the air — and here’s why:

You’ll Find Out A Lot About Each Other

First off, you can check that your love interest has good taste in books. If you’re going to share a bookshelf one day, you need to know what’s going to be on it. But that’s not all: by browsing the film section you can decide what to snuggle up in front of on a Friday night, and in the music section you can check you both want the same wedding song… am I getting carried away? In a library, you’re bound to find a book on any topic you’re interested in, so by perusing the shelves together, you can cover a lot of conversation topics.

You’ll Feel Part Of History

Libraries are often in particularly beautiful and historic buildings, which gives your date the rather romantic feeling of going down in history. Even if you’re not actually in an ancient one, the concept of libraries goes all the way back to 2600 B.C.E. And if people have been enjoying libraries for that many millennia — they must be pretty special.

There's A Lot Of Sexual Tension

So we all know the one golden rule of libraries: no talking. Some might say that’s inconvenient for a date, but I say it adds a rather exciting level of intimacy. Instead of chatting, you’ll have to get creative: slip each other notes, whisper in each other’s ears, brush up suggestively against each other… Pretty hot, right?

You Can Live Out Your Sexiest Fantasy

Assuming your sexiest fantasy is making out in a library. Which it obviously is.

There Are Books There

Of course, the biggest reason to take your date to a library is that there are books there. Any awkward silences? Pick up a book. Your date is boring you? Pick up a book. Date’s going really well but you’d still rather be reading? Yeah, me too. Let’s pick up a book.

Image: Adam C/flickr; Giphy (4); Wifflegif