On the Bryn Mawr College website, there are only three libraries listed: Canaday, Carpenter, and Collier. But, when I was invited on a tour of Brecon, I learned that there is one more library that is kept hidden from the public.
A group of athletes had shown me the library after taking me on what is known as the “Brek Trek,” a ten-minute walk to the farthest dorm. It was the first cold night of the year, and we walked down a flight of stairs into the basement. The walls were cool and white brick, the paint was cracked, revealing the stone behind it. We went down a hallway that had pipes covering the ceiling, snake-like in their smooth, skinny extensions, a dim flickering light leading us into a seductive darkness. Right before we reached the laundry machines, we turned into a small, dark room. There was only an archway, leading to a single bookshelf and two chairs. A book of hymns and a metal portrait of Mary holding a baby Jesus rested on the windowsill. The only décor was a single framed sketch of a naked woman and man, seemingly entangled. A large Barbie doll sat eerily in the corner.
“Take a look,” one of the athletes said to me.
I turned, and behind me was the largest collection of smut I had ever seen in my life: Surgeon Prince, Ordinary Wife. The Mediterranean Prince’s Captive Virgin. In The Spaniard’s Bed. The Bride Tamer. Animal Instincts. Rich Rancher’s Redemption.
Endless book titles with sexual overtones were in front of me, 99-cent stickers stuck onto their lurid covers. As I looked at it, the only question in my head was, How did this get here? Was it a single alum donation, or perhaps a collection built up over many years of smut-loving Brecon dwellers? I needed to get to the bottom of this irresistible, erotic mystery.
The oldest books in the collection date back to the 1960s; they were relatively tamer than the rest. One book, entitled A Season in Love, was from the late 1960s. It had a secret message and marked pages:
“To My Darling Nate,
I had a blast at the party last night. Next time the party is in your pants.
All my love, B.“
An enclave of old Bryn Mawr romances and sexual awakenings fills these shelves. Some books from the 1990s are stamped: “Brecon Bathroom Lending Library,” it reads, “Established 1999, ‘Hours upon hours of by-yourself enjoyment.’”
I asked a few students what they thought of the Smut Library.
“It’s great,” Calliope Lanier, a first year, said.
“I was there once, it was very detailed, and there are some Furry books” said another student who chose to remain anonymous.
Brecon’s own residents believe it to be an important part of the community. “I definitely feel like it’s one of Brecon’s only interesting things and the only thing that’s potentially desirable about it,” said a first-year who chose to remain anonymous as well.
I went through pages of the old BiCo Newspaper to try to locate some hint of this secretive library and its origins. I couldn’t find anything. The Brecon Smut Library simply is, with no explanation. It exists, perhaps as a result of some students in the 1960s, and has been continued on for generations. The most recently donated book dates from 2022, showing how the student body has continued the sacred, sexy, library.
If any alum is currently reading this, please reach out to the BiCo Newspaper for any potential information. Until then, students, know that there is always fun waiting for you on the bottom floor of Brecon Hall.
