I just returned from a few weeks in Belgium and France, and a day in Italy. As both a passionate logophile and bibliophile, and often visit as many libraries as I can on every trip. I came away with distinct memories from each that I visited last month, especially one in Belgium.
Ghent, Belgium: https://gent.bibliotheek.be/
My trip planning always includes some personal research about notable libraries. I am grateful that I discovered something really special about DeKrook, Ghent’s main public library. On the second floor of the library, I eventually found the nondescript-looking mailbox. In 2017, a woman named Tine Marie Van Damme founded an artist collective entitled Het Postkantoor. In addition to several other projects, Het Postkantoor created De Huisbus, a project that includes a special mailbox where people can leave letters for their deceased loved ones.
According to my research, Tine Marie wanted to write a letter to her grandmother who had passed away, and realized that while she could write a letter to Santa, there was no way to write a note to a dead loved one. She wrote her own letter anyway, and later established a post office box in Ghent to received grief letters. Tine Marie is still deeply involved in her endeavor.
According to the DeKrook’s website, an artist from the collective will respond to every grief letter. I hope so, because I left one in the mailbox, for my deceased daughter Christian. This act gave me a surprising amount of peace.
Thank you, Tine Marie Van Damme. It means a lot.
Bruges, Belgium: https://brugge.bibliotheek.be
While walking amongst the sunshine in Bruges, I made my way to the main public library, the Biekorf. Usually, my first search inside, includes locating the foreign language section. The stacks had an ample selection of both French and English titles. Surprisingly, though, this library only housed fiction in these two languages. Still, both the interior and the exterior of the building provided a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere.
Toulouse, France:
https://bibliotheque.toulouse.fr/22-bibliotheques/bibliotheque-detude-et-du-patrimoine
What a surprise! This home of text is truly inspiring. I spent more than a few minutes here, browsing the shelves and looking up at the stunning windows.
Nice, France: https://sosno.com/toutes-les-oeuvres/tete-carree
While the Louis Nucéra library itself was closed during my August visit, I took a challenging detour to find the famed, Tête Carrée. Signifying, “thinking inside the box,” this masterpiece is visually overwhelming in a good way. The sculptor Sacha Sosno designed this ominous structure which housed the administrative offices for the library. Don’t live Nice without seeing it.
Sanremo, Italy:
Finding this one took a few tries. I’m still wondering if there is a desire to keep it a secret! I walked by it more than once.
Ghent and Toulouse showed me their best words on this trip!
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