Shelf Life

There is something special about a home library. From the smell of the pages to the surprises that each spine discloses about its owner, looking at someone’s bookshelves is like a peek inside their mind: a Russian nesting doll containing worlds within worlds. 

Jackson resident and book-lover Christy Smirl has made a calling out of creating these worlds around the globe. She’s a professional librarian who specializes in unearthing each client’s curiosities to create their own Architectural Digest-level personal library.

Christy’s interests in bespoke libraries started with her mother.

“My mom was really intentional about having a bunch of books around, and reading books with my brother and me before bed,” Christy says. “When I got my driver’s license, the first place I went by myself was the library. It was that place of curiosity and refuge. I was very into medieval history and castles,” she adds with a self-deprecating laugh.

When her mother tried to steer her toward library sciences, Christy rebelled. But an off-the-cuff conversation with an actual student lit a spark.

“She was explaining to me the types of [college] classes she was taking, and it sounded right up my alley: order, systems, helping people, curiosity, and problem-solving.”

After receiving her master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Denver, Christy stayed in Colorado and worked in a series of libraries. She later landed at the Teton County Library in Jackson, Wyoming, where she worked her way up to manager of the collection.

Just as Christy began craving her next chapter, another chance encounter unfolded.

“Someone had come into the public library and asked if anyone around here created custom libraries, and I volunteered,” Christy says. “It got me thinking that there’s probably more people [wanting the same thing] out there.”

With that first project in 2016, in which she created a personal library in a home on Snow King Mountain overlooking Jackson Hole, two words entered her mind: “Dream job.”

With a giant mess of stacked books around her, Foxtail Books was born. The name speaks to Christy’s comfort in being an elusive presence behind the scenes, and the ability for ideas to stick, like foxtail grass seeds. From curating personal home libraries and hunting for a rare first edition volume to cataloging expansive collections and hosting private showings of rare and unique fine bindings, Foxtail Books covers the gamut for book connoisseurs.

Since then, Christy remains mum on her roster of high-octane clientele. But certain periodicals, like Oprah Daily, aren’t so modest: “Christy Smirl Designs Private Libraries for the Stars” goes the title of their story about her uncommon career.

“I’ve always been kind of a neurotic organizer,” Christy says. “I think even as a teenager I organized a couple rooms in one of our neighbor’s houses.” She admits that she doesn’t recall being asked to perform the task.

“I like to figure out the puzzle. It came very naturally.”

While she doesn’t have formal training in it, Christy has an innate gift for design. She says corralling someone’s personal collection of five hundred to one thousand books is easier than managing the 100,000-book collection at the Teton County Library, which she needed to move multiple times due to building additions.

Christy says she enjoys making a client’s collected pages flow, letting them shine and tell a story about the owner. It’s a process not only about what people are connected to now, but who they’re growing into.

“It’s an interesting way to look at your life: Who do I want to be? What will the six-year-old want to read when he’s sixteen?”

Books are also a way to communicate with visitors.

“People are always curious about bookshelves when they walk into a home,” Christy says. “It says how your brain works, how you see the world. It’s a fun way to get to know someone, [revealing] things they may not necessarily tell you.”

Christy works on about a dozen personal libraries a year. For some clients it involves shaping the tomes they already have and displaying them in an inviting way; for others, it’s building a collection from scratch based on their interests.

Almost a decade in, the patchwork of human curiosities continues to keep Christy on her toes. One project this winter had a hodgepodge of titles devoted to alchemy—the mythological science of making gold out of other metals—as well as magic. Another home library focused on menswear fashion, and still another dove deep into heraldry and flag history.

Of course, locally, there’s a lot of shelf space devoted to outdoor pursuits such as skiing and fly fishing.