If someone ever figured out how to bottle the smell of a library, I’d probably buy it.
As much as I love reading, I’m actually not very fussy about what I read. I’ll happily pick up almost any genre. That doesn’t mean I’ll enjoy them all — there are books I’ve abandoned halfway through — but I’m always willing to give them a chance. Over the years, I’ve also realised I have a preference: fiction works best for me as an audiobook, while non-fiction is something I prefer reading in print, whether it’s an actual book or a digital ebook.
Ever since discovering the Singapore National Library Board’s NLB Mobile app, my reading life has become wonderfully dangerous. Dangerous because every time I open it, I end up borrowing more books than I can realistically finish. My bookworm heart still flutters with the same excitement I used to feel walking into a library as a kid.
The only thing missing is that unmistakable library smell.
You know the one. A mixture of ageing paper, old bindings, wooden shelves, and somehow…possibility. It’s a scent that’s been etched into my memory since childhood. One whiff and I’m instantly transported back to those quiet afternoons wandering between towering shelves, wondering which book would come home with me.
On one of my trips to Melbourne, I wandered into the State Library Victoria. It felt like stepping into a storybook. Grand reading rooms, beautiful architecture, shelves that seemed to stretch forever — it was everything I imagined a traditional library should be. Surprisingly though, even that magnificent place didn’t have the “library smell” I remembered. I probably would have spent the entire day there if not for poor Eder, who patiently followed me from shelf to shelf before eventually reaching the universal “I’ve had enough of books” stage.
Back home in Singapore, I’m rather spoilt. There’s a library in almost every heartland (local-speak for suburbs), and if I can’t be bothered leaving the house, the NLB app is practically a library in my pocket. The National Library itself is a striking multi-storey building that could easily pass for another sleek office tower if you didn’t know what was inside.
But I don’t go to libraries for the architecture.
I go for the books.
And here’s a little confession.
Sometimes, as I run my fingers along the shelves, I’ll spot an older, slightly tattered book. I’ll glance around to make sure nobody’s watching, pull it out, open it ever so slightly…and take a quick sniff.
Kinda nasty, huh?
No judgement, please.
As wonderful as ebooks and audiobooks have become — and honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without them — they’ll never quite replace that simple, oddly comforting ritual. Some experiences can’t be digitised.
For what it’s worth, I wish more people — not just children — would read more. To learn more. To be inspired. To disappear into another world for a while.
As for me, I’ll happily keep borrowing ebooks and listening to audiobooks. But if you ever spot someone in a library discreetly sniffing an old book…
Mind your own business.
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