seen library

Seeing a 50 person line to buy books. Spending the past few months with my mom writing clues and wrapping books and having her in the bookstand tying bows and chatting with guests, watching the books we poured love into leave with their new owners as gifts or as a new story for them to read. Looking over at someone wiping away a tear as she reads a quote that she related to. Learning that someone flew from Houston, Texas to come to the pop up and another drove hours from the central coast. Seeing family and friends — old and new — coming time and time again to show support and encouragement. Catching my husband explain @seenlibrary to passerbys while restocking shelves and helping people find the perfect book for their grandma or their best friend or their 16-year-old cousin. Finding out that people were chatting in line with one another while they waited, asking each other which books they picked out. Hearing from those who have gone to @seenlibrary events how much it’s meant to them, how much of a safe space it’s been to self-reflect, make new friends and discover new perspectives. Being told “thank you for including these kinds of stories.” I know every time I talk about @seenlibrary I write paragraphs that most won’t read, but I just can’t express enough how thankful I am for all the incredible, kind, open people who support and come into contact with @seenlibrary , who make it what it is. I often can’t believe I get to share what I love with so many people and that so many people want to be a part of it, too. I don’t know what else to say except thank you to everyone who came to the @seenlibrary bookstand this weekend to show support or to purchase a book — and to the people in my life who understood @seenlibrary even when I didn’t understand it myself, who encouraged me to lean into it and keep it going and to @platform_la for believing in it and making the space (again!) for something like this. So so happy. Thank you thank you thank you. And thank you for helping support @doctorswithoutborders . A portion of proceeds was donated to help provide urgent medical and humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Hosted the first Reading Room by @seenlibrary , where guests sat back and relaxed with a book for a few hours in a stunning R.M. Schindler designed home in Los Angeles, reading quietly with themselves or mingling with other book lovers. The idea had been marinating for months, but it was a recent trip to Japan that nudged me to finally make it happen. Their intimate teahouses and jazz bars encouraged their guests to sit, slow down and connect with oneself or the person beside them — unlike the fast paced to go culture in many of the coffee shops here at home. I also noticed how many people had their favorite book in tow, flipping through pages over a cup of tea or glass of whiskey, sometimes taking breaks to talk to the person next to them. The Reading Room is our version to do just that. My hope with The Reading Room and @seenlibrary in general is that it gives people the permission to finally sit down and read, if they’ve been looking for the time to do so. I hope that it gives them the opportunity to meet new people, if new connections and conversation is what they’re looking for. I hope that it introduces them to a new book that they may not have come across otherwise. If nothing else, I just hope that it’s able to provide a space to slow down in our fast-paced world. It makes me so happy to know there are people looking for the same things I had been looking for, who come into @seenlibrary spaces with such openness, kindness and curiosity. I’m so thankful for the people I’ve met and feel very lucky to witness the connections that have formed. I can’t explain how much @seenlibrary means to me and how cool it is that it means something to others too. Looking forward to what’s to come :) NY — October 9 and 12 LA — December 7 and 8

A glimpse at the last @seenlibrary book drive with @kateparfet 🖤 NEXT BOOK DRIVE: February 3 to 5 in Los Angeles @seenlibrary and @shop_rlt will be hosting a book drive from Friday, February 3 to Sunday, February 5 at the RLT store at 7607 Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles. We’re collecting donated books to support @thebooktruck , an org working to increase literacy skills among foster care, homeless, and low-income teens and @theclaremontforum , an org that provides free reading materials to incarcerated folks. 60% of teens in the US do not read at grade level and 70% of inmates in American prisons cannot read above a 4th-grade level. At the most basic level, literacy leads to better futures, and everyone deserves that opportunity 🖤 We will have @drinksanzo @kollo as refreshments. Hope to see you there x

Dream job @seenlibrary

Essentials @carlyboos

A beautiful morning spent with @dolcevita and so many women who inspire me. We gathered in a beautiful architectural home and in the sunshine around books that inspire us to be resilient and empowered, along with custom journals, delicious bites and lattes. Thank you to the @dolcevita team who created the space to make this happen and for encouraging reading and prioritizing meaningful in person gatherings like the one we enjoyed today 🤍 ad

@seenlibrary for @dolcevita 🤍 with my talented friends flowers @aris.floral bites @antamvo lattes @flowgood.coffee

Little snapshots from the third annual Seen Library book giving at my old high school 🖤 My cousin and I being able to go back to a place that informed so much of who we are and share a love of reading and some of our favorite books with seniors who are there now is truly something special. It is always a highlight of the year since we began doing them and every time, we are blown away by how open and vulnerable and smart the students are. Thank you to Mr. R for being an incredible teacher who goes above and beyond and prioritizes important, diverse stories and makes reading them fun!!! And to @flowgood.coffee for the yummy lattes that are always a treat 🤍

Tears and so many laughs at the first @seenlibrary in Hawaii at @fishcakehawaii 🥹🌺🫶🏽 I so loved seeing and meeting new faces and hearing all of your stories. Thank you @fishcakehawaii for hosting and fostering much needed community and @mashioproject for providing lattes and basque cheesecake. I hope there’s more to come in the future 🩷

Found these underlined pages in my camera roll this morning

SEEN LIBRARY GOES TO HAWAII 🌺 ALL SPOTS RESERVED For the first time ever, Seen Library will be hosting a book giving in Hawaii at @fishcakehawaii I hope you’ll join us for an intimate afternoon where each guest will choose from a curated selection of wrapped books, join in conversation, make new friends, and enjoy dessert and beverages by @mashioproject Each book will be wrapped in Seen Library’s signature creamy paper adorned with a library card of handwritten clues so you can choose a book by its contents rather than its cover 🌺

In honor of International Women’s Day, we hosted a special book giving with friends of @seenlibrary , old and new. Some who have interacted with Seen Library in the past, and some who have joined for the very first time. We gathered around matcha, pastries and books that highlight the nuanced, intimate stories that reveal the vastness and complexity of what it means to be a woman. Each book was wrapped and adorned with a custom library card with handwritten clues, serving as conversation starters on what resonated with each person and why. It was a beautiful morning for connection and conversation, spent with great stories and even better company, where strangers quickly turned into friends.