Love Among the Stacks

“It's a beautiful building, I feel very safe here. I’ve always enjoyed the library and we also picked it because it’s free.”

Catherine had been working at the Ferndale Library for just about a year. She had moved out to the Pacific Northwest from Texas with Anthony, her partner and best friend, leaving one place and starting over in another. Anthony works in an industry that requires him to go where the jobs are. Follow the money. We do what we have to do in this life. 

When we’re lucky, we find someone whose puzzle parts fit our own. And we hold on to them. When we’re lucky we find places to belong to. Safe places that we can enter without worry. Such was the case with Catherine. She and Anthony share a love of the strange and quirky, some dark humor and awkward goofy fun. She felt safe with him and felt at home in the Ferndale Library.

“It’s always been a safe place for me to be myself just as a weirdo bisexual kid trying to figure out where she fits in. I never feel scared.”

Catherine knew no one in Ferndale before she got her job as a Clerk. She had a lot to adjust to in this rainy part of the country, where the coffee shops outnumber the whiskey bars and even the local incarcerated citizens are checking out books from the library. Ferndale was different from where she had been living before. 

It was good. Never had she felt such a sense of belonging. Never had she felt so safe. 

When Catherine and Anthony decided to get married, Catherine wanted to have the ceremony in the place where she belonged. She got married in the Ferndale Library. 

It costs nothing, of course, to reserve the big meeting room. On a Saturday, during open hours, Catherine and Anthony were married in this palace of the people, this holy temple of sharing, this community heart. 

After the ceremony, they stepped into the main library area for photos, making sure they were not in anyone’s way. People–children and adults alike–saw them and congratulated them;. Some of the children gave them impromptu gifts, pretty stones, so they could share in the event, so they could belong with the couple in their safe and friendly space. 

“When we were done with the ceremony, …we walked around and took photos inside the library. We tried not to bother anybody who was browsing, I got to wave at a few regulars, and then people kept walking up to us giving us little trinkets.” 

“Children walked up and give [us] gifts. It was so sweet. I didn’t know people did that. It’s like here’s a rock, happy wedding, happy marriage.”

Word got out the way word gets out these days. On Facebook, more than 800 local people sent hearts and thumbs up, blessed their event, and wished them happiness. Most had never met Catherine and Anthony. The post had a huge reach, more than any other post we have ever had. 

We love to see two people in love. 

Neil McKay (he/him) works for the Whatcom County Library System as Online Experience Coordinator. He is host of the podcast “WCLS in Whatcom County Presents: Library Stories” (wcls.org/podcast) and serves on the Whatcom READS steering committee (whatcomreads.org). He has written for several magazines and newspapers, some of which no longer exist, and he has performed at poetry readings across Washington state. Most recently, his poem “The Salmyn” was included in Washington State Poet Laureate (2021-2023) Rena Priest’s anthology, I Sing the Salmon Home (Empty Bowl Press, 2023). The opinions expressed are his own.