Published: February 26, 2009

Let’s be honest. Hitting on someone is moderately easy when you’re in a bar.  It’s so simple to buy someone a drink and strike up a conversation. I guess it doesn’t hurt that the overall atmosphere is pretty much designed to help people find someone to hook up with. Hitting on someone can even be simple when you’re waiting in line for coffee at Starbucks. But picking someone up in a library… now that is a bit trickier.

A library offers an entirely different and sometimes difficult social “terrain” for students seeking out potential dates. The library is quiet and serious, as opposed to the more laid-back atmosphere of, say, a bar or even the cafeteria. The library is also a bit more reserved, and you don’t want to bother anyone who might be doing work just because you’re in pursuit of a potential date.

Well, it’s time for you to put aside those worries you’ve been having about approaching attractive people in the library! Whether you’re going in to check your e-mail or grab a book for class, chances are you are going to come across a lot of new faces. They may be of students who are not in any of your classes. Perhaps they’ll be good looking faces…

The question is—how do you go about approaching a potential love interest in the library setting? It has probably happened to you at least once: you’re studying notes for tomorrow’s exam when a really hot guy or girl sits down with a book across from you. You exchange a couple of you’re-pretty-attractive-and-much-more-interesting-than-my-book glances, but is it safe to speak up?

If you’re feeling particularly bold, I would recommend starting with the “lean-in.” The “lean-in” is ideal for the library because it means you want to have a personal conversation… but you’ll still be abiding by library rules. Maybe you could lean in and strike up a conversation about that fascinating book he or she is reading.

You know the way students always seem to have that terrible, burnt-out look when their eyelids are like cement blocks because they’ve been holed up in the library studying for too long? Well if one of those zombies happens to be hot and seated next to you, do the right thing. Ask them if they want to grab a cup of coffee or maybe get some fresh air. “Gee, I am getting so stiff in these library chairs. Want to take a break and step outside for a little bit?”

It’s also important to keep book sections in mind too. By this, I simply mean that if you’re looking for that cute chick with the bangs who is always wearing a black pea-coat and putting up flyers for poetry open-mic nights, chances are you might spot her lingering in the poetry section! Seriously! What about that sort of nerdy guy with the glasses who has a Rivers Cuomo appeal you always see wandering around campus? You might find him in the library… in the history section perhaps? Or possibly looking through the foreign French films?

Now, the next one is a bit racier and is reminiscent of those female tips Cher explains in “Clueless” about attracting a guy’s attention. You see a hot guy across the way who’s eyeing you and not his medieval history book? Great. Take your sweater off and put on some lip gloss. Are you hurriedly flipping through the pages of your own book? Start lasciviously licking your finger and slowly turning that page. I guarantee you’ll turn his head too. Medieval who? What knights?

There are some rules to keep in mind while browsing the library for a date. If you see a hottie on his Facebook page or a cutie checking her e-mail, don’t creepily hover behind him or her and try to sneak a peak at what’s on the screen. Also, remember that some people are serious about getting their studying done. The last thing you’d want to do is ask someone buried in books to grab a cup of coffee and have them freak out because he or she has a midterm in an hour. I guarantee you, though, that if a hot guy or girl is checking you out from between the rows of books he or she probably wants to talk, but is too scared because you’re supposed to be quiet in the library. But you know better than that.