| Sexy Librarian: Critical Edition of the Original Novel, Julia Weist’s first book, will be published in full this fall by design powerhouse Ellen Lupton. It was originally written as a 60-page prospectus that Weist sent to major publishers: the rejection letters she received in return were re-presented as sculptures incorporated into a larger project about failed literature. | 
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Sexy Librarian: Critical Edition of the Original Novel, Julia Weist’s first book, will be published in full this fall by design powerhouse Ellen Lupton. It was originally written as a 60-page prospectus that Weist sent to major publishers: the rejection letters she received in return were re-presented as sculptures incorporated into a larger project about failed literature.
The book, a quasi-autobiographical meta-narrative that centers around a hip New York arts librarian, explores the relationship between sexuality and information science. It was begun while Weist was traveling the country for her project Public Library of American Public Library Deaccession, a project that involved collecting discarded public library books and furniture. She began the book when she realized the need for "a sculpture that, in its making, would expand [her] empathetic capacity for literature determined to be unpopular, unnecessary, or out of date."
Weist’s process, which (irrespective of medium) utilizes what she calls "alternative research," included months of reading only withdrawn public library romances while writing and traveling. The manuscript for Sexy Librarian created plenty of opportunity to sympathize with her collection of library discards, as it was rejected from Harlequin, Avon, Moonlit Madness Romance, and several other publishing houses.
When Lupton made an offer to put out the novel and the story behind the story, Weist switched to reading only classics and wrote the remaining six chapters. Her plan for the future is to get the book into the New York Public Library and then wait for it to be withdrawn.
Sexy Librarian the novel includes a critical essay about the project written by Jennifer Tobias (librarian, collection development MoMA, and former chair of the Arts Librarian Society of North America’s NY Chapter), an artist statement by Weist, and a publisher’s note from Lupton.
