Japanese author Michiko Aoyama’s debut novel What You’re Looking for is in the Library is about five people looking for purpose in their lives. Their stories are subtly connected via Sayuri Komachi, an enigmatic librarian, who intuitively recommends books that help these individuals find what they are searching for. In an email interview, Aoyama talked about the peculiar pull of libraries.
Her responses were translated by her editor, Jane Lawson. What are your earliest memories of visiting a library? When I was a child, the library was quite far from my home, and it took about 15 minutes to get there by bike. I often visited the school library, but the town library was also a special place for me that I had to pedal hard to reach.
The brick building felt romantic, and I felt like I was travelling to a slightly faraway fantasy world. When I grew up and was choosing where to live, one of the conditions was that I had a library within walking distance. All the characters in your book are non-readers and yet they find themselves and their purpose in life in a library.
What made you choose the library as a premise of these stories? I intentionally wanted to write a story about characters who are not bookworms, yet who are searching for books, and who, by the inevitability of chance, “meet” the perfect read for them in that moment. It may seem like we are choosing books, but perhaps the books are choosing us. The library is a place that’s open to anyone and can be visited.