And the Rose Goes To...
Published on February 11, 2025
By Kara V.
In college and through most of my early twenties, I was addicted to The Bachelor.
This reality show had me turning on my TV every week ready to find out who would receive the rose. I would host Bachelor viewing parties with friends and tape an episode if I knew I would miss it. It was the first reality TV show I was committed to. Fast forward years (I will not admit how many), and now I am watching Love Is Blind. The drama is enthralling, and I can’t turn away.
There is a much safer and easier blind date at the library. You won’t be expected to commit to a lasting relationship or accept a proposal from a stranger; you'll just get to enjoy a new book! Every February since 2012, Siouxland has offered Blind Date with a Book. All month, guests can have a Siouxland Libraries professional set them up with their next great read. This is an opportunity to be introduced to a new author, genre, or find something that fits right into your current reading mood. You fill out the form on our website and we do some magical readers’ advisory to find a book that fits your preferences. We place the selected book on hold for you and send it your way, including a little bookmark with a personalized note explaining why the book was chosen just for you.
For library staff in February, it’s all-hands-on-deck to help patrons find their next favorite book. The preparations for the program begin two months prior. We start creating the marketing material and prepare a corresponding physical display, which features books fully wrapped in brown paper to hide their identity. The lead of the program keeps track of all the submissions, pulls and wraps books for the display, and makes sure the website information is up to date. Her favorite part is writing the note explaining her selection and connecting through the love of reading.
The program has become an ultimate dating experience (purely bookish... occasionally, there's been confusion about human dates) for Siouxland guests. Last year, the library set up 304 people with a book! Blind Date with a Book may not be a live, on-air marriage proposal, but it’s still pretty exciting. Just as much as you like getting your book date, we love setting you up!
If blind dates make you nervous but you want to meet a new book, try one of these books about blind dates:
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
This has to be one of my favorite Center books. It is funny, romantic, and honest. After suffering an accident, Sadie develops face blindness. This is not helpful when it comes to the man that lives in her building, the vet that works down the street, and her attraction to them both. It takes blind dating to the next level.
Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
In perfect Christina Lauren fashion, they create two characters who just can’t stay away from each other. Josh and Hazel decide that, as friends, they should set each other up on blind dates, and if they don't meet anyone by a given time, they will marry each other. No pressure for these blind dates... of course we know what happens.
The Night Before by Wendy Walker
Two sisters, Rosie and Laura, have taken different paths. Rosie is settled and married while Laura is still looking for love. When Laura leaves for a blind internet date and doesn’t return, Rosie starts to worry—not just about her sister but what her sister might have done to her date.
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Sutanto
When Meddelin Chan accidentally kills her blind date, her mother calls in reinforcements: her four meddling aunties to dispose of the body. However, things get a little out of control when the body is mistakenly shipped in a cake cooler to a billionaire wedding the Chans are catering.