Now you, too, can smell like a library!

Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled with digital libraries and online collections, but there is at least one thing that digitization can't replicate: the smell of a library. Whenever I step into a library, I like to inhale deeply and revel in the book-scent. The more computers take the place of old volumes, the fainter and fainter that good old scent becomes, replaced by something like plastic and humming wires.

Well, I've found the solution. Book collector and perfume artisan Christopher Brosius of I Hate Perfume has created a new scent called "In the Library." He describes it as "a warm blend of English Novel*, Russian & Moroccan Leather Bindings, Worn Cloth and a hint of Wood Polish

*The main note in this scent was copied from one of my favorite novels originally published in 1927. I happened to find a signed first edition in pristine condition many years ago in London. I was more than a little excited because there were only ever a hundred of these in the first place. It had a marvelous warm woody slightly sweet smell and I set about immediately to bottle it."

It even comes in a room spray. Watch out--I may be wandering around the computers and spritzing that wonderful library scent all around!