The first Paris book exchange

No. 20 — The first Seen Library book exchange in Paris with Where I Would Like to Read.

I met Simay, the founder, for the first time just last year during my springtime visit to the city. We had a lovely day chatting over seafood, eating chocolate tarts in the back of a taxi, exploring one of her favorite architecture houses and taking photos for her interview with Seen Library. I’ve always loved the community that she built over the years with WIWLTR, blending the love of books and travel, which is why I thought she would be the perfect co-host for an intimate gathering in Paris, where she’s based.

In the spirit of WIWLTR's inspiring locations and my own travels throughout the UK and Europe this summer, we decided to make this book exchange’s theme Around the World. Guests were asked to bring a book that would transport its reader to a new destination — one that describes its settings so vividly, that you feel like you're there.

*Get a glimpse of the afternoon* *here*.

Simay and I both invited a couple book-loving friends of ours, but reserved a majority of the spots for the Seen Library community. I had put feelers out on social media, asking if any Paris-based followers would be interested, and if so, to share why they would like to join and their current favorite read. I expected just a couple responses, thinking anyone interested would be able to come, but I was wrong. It was such a pleasant surprise seeing so many wanting to be a part of Seen Library and while it was exciting to include some who have been following all the way from Paris since the beginning, it was also hard knowing we couldn’t have everyone there.

We gathered at Hotel Rochechouart’s beautiful art deco restaurant in the heart of Montmarte, browsing WIWLTR’s curation of coffee table books from various travels and countries before the book exchange started. We then shared our favorite books — in both French and English — that took us all around the world, whether through a family saga in Korea, a coming of age story in the Appalachian Mountains, a beach read that takes place on the Mediterranean coast, or an epic novel set in both Palestine and Israel. Each wrapped book was placed atop the white tablecloths, where we chose our books based on its clues rather than its cover. While nibbling on Hotel Rochechouart’s iconic crepe cake, we went around and introduced ourselves, sharing where we come from around the world, and which clue from our chosen book resonated most with us.

It was so special getting to know everyone and hearing about all the different places we come from — Los Angeles, Mexico, Istanbul, Cameroon, South Africa, Melbourne — and discovering which topics of conversation rose to the surface. We talked a lot about the differences in making friends and finding community in various parts of the world and all came to agreement that as we get older, it seems harder and harder to do just that, no matter what city we find ourselves. I hope that Seen Library is a space that can help change that — even if in a small way.

I’m still in awe that people all the way in Paris want to be a part of Seen Library. I never would have thought that the little book exchanges in the park would turn into intimate gatherings of complete strangers in other countries. Following this afternoon, I got so many messages from people asking when Seen Library would come to various places — Amsterdam, Malaysia, Copenhagen, Australia, Italy, to name a few. While I don’t have the ability to bring it to all of these places just yet, I hope more than anything that I’ll be able to sometime soon.

Get a glimpse of the afternoon here.