Olfactory Notes From the Field: Library
The changing smellscape of a public space.
Today I bring you another installment of a series I like to call Olfactory Notes From The Field where I share my aromatic adventures away from home. Enjoy!
Every once in a while I need a change of scenery when I do my writing. So this week I headed to my local library for the first time in a long time, and something struck me that I wanted to share.
The smell was different. Noticeably different.
Mind you, I visit my local library often, to pop in and check out a favorite read. But this time I stayed for a while - I actually sat down and experienced a library for the first time since I was in college.
What struck me most was how clean and sanitized the place smells today. There’s actually a lack of rich, organic odors, if that makes sense. The feel is more cool and stand-offish, as if wanting to keep me at a distance, rather than giving me a welcoming hug.
I proceeded to make myself comfortable at one of several long wooden tables, in a room surrounded by bookshelves and magazine racks. Only a few people were scattered throughout the room, perhaps a sign of the times now that so much can be accessed online from home.
I took a moment to close my eyes and focus on the smellscape around me: the almost scentless air was barely broken by the faint current of coffee and pastries drifting from the little café just up ahead, along with a hint of plasticky, metallic, electronic smells from the computer room around the corner. The odor of the books and magazines along the walls was noticeably muted by their plastic covers, and so left no recognizable mark.
Altogether, the impression in my head took on the look of a Jackson Pollock: white canvas with splashes of creamy brown, muted yellow, and light grey. It was abstract and jagged, leaving an artificial and distant feel.
I decided to walk around a bit, and see if I could find some old books to stick my nose in. I longed for the smells of libraries long ago. To my delight, there was a small shelf in the corner of an adjacent room that had a few “antiques” nestled between modern, plastic-covered volumes.
With the first whiff of those worn pages I was immediately transported back in time. A wave of familiarity, comfort, and connection washed over me, like the warm hug I’d been longing for.
Back then, when you walked into a library, there was a detectable smell of aging paper: sweet vanillin, woody notes, and that dry, slightly musty undertone. Shelves were packed floor-to-ceiling with lots of old, well-worn books, which made the scent feel thicker, almost as if it was holding up the walls.
And do you remember the card catalogs? Those wooden drawers filled with index cards referencing each book in the library? Just thinking about them reminds me of a dry, woody, yet somewhat resinous smell from the thousands of fingerprints left on the paper cards.
I also remember the carpets being thicker than today. They were well-trafficked because everyone went to the library back then. The dirty, musty smell gave an added human presence to the smellscape - a sort of lived-in quality, if you will.
As far as electronic smells, there were few back then. You might find rows of typewriters in study rooms, microfiche readers, and basic photocopiers - each giving off metallic, heated plastic, and sharp ozonic odors. The old relics - a microfiche reader, copy machine - are still found in libraries today, but they seem more like museum artifacts than actual breathing additions to the smellscape.
Back then, the smellscape felt heavier, richer, and full of texture. Today it feels lighter, smoother, mostly scrubbed clean. The smells have shifted because the role of the library has shifted: less a place to escape into and more a place to gather around.
I suppose I’ll have to keep seeking out those antique books tucked away in the back, just to breathe in those beautiful scent memories again.
I’m curious, how has your library experience been lately?
This week on my podcast An Aromatic Life:
Speaking of old, ancestral smells… in the latest episode we’re talking about oud!
In this week’s whiff of wisdom, the Oud Artisan Rahel Ali helps us understand the different grades of oud on the market so you know what to look for when buying. To listen to the original full episode “Exploring Oud” go to episode #94.
You can hear this conversation, and many more, on Apple podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.