North Bellmore librarian unites readers on a journey

Frannie Cassano honored by romance writers as Librarian of the Year

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Frannie Cassano, an adult reference librarian at the North Bellmore Public Library, said she believes in a “happily ever after ending for all.” Her passion for treating patrons of an oft-ignored literary genre to the happy endings they deserve recently paid off, as the Romance Writers of America named her 2018’s Librarian of the Year.

Cassano, 42, has curated the library’s romance and erotic fiction collection for six years, after Tom Bazzicalupo, the library’s director, asked her to ensure that the library was serving a growing number of patrons interested in the genre during the “Fifty Shades of Grey” phenomenon.

“Tom wanted to make sure we were keeping everyone happy,” Cassano said. “I started surveying titles, and I started to notice patrons I hadn’t really seen before, because romance and erotica readers basically know what they’re looking for — they don’t need to come to the reference desk.”

What started as a fun project became Cassano’s specialty at the library and, she said, the best job she’s ever had.

“We had this large romance collection that was kind of just there,” Bazzicalupo said on Monday. “She volunteered to work on it, and the rest is history. She’s really done a lot with it.”

Over the years, Cassano has taken it upon herself to learn each patron’s subgenre, be it historical, thriller, erotic romance or the increasingly popular paranormal romance, which came into prominence with Stephenie Meyer’s young adult series “Twilight.”

“You know, ‘Fifty Shades’ was originally ‘Twilight’ fan-fiction, right?” Cassano said. “And aliens and zombies — they’re a thing now,” she added.

However, according to Cassano, historical romance is almost guaranteed never to go out of style, and the effect the genre has on its devotees is the same across subgenres.

“I just believe in putting books in the community’s hands that are ‘happily ever after for all,’” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you come from or what you’re looking for: I’m like, ‘You need this, because you’re going to smile from ear to ear, or you’re going be devastated.’”

Cassano acknowledged that the genre has had issues involving questionable sexual politics and consent, but that most of the heroines found in historical romances “were always strong in their context.”

“These fine ladies really knew who they were,” she said, “and the ‘rescuing’ was really sort of a code for ‘happily ever after.’ And they were allowed to have pleasure.”

“Romance gives agency,” she continued. “It’s a force for change, a force of empowerment. It gives voice to you, or definition to you, whatever that is. People come to romance for the escapism . . . and it’s about knowing and accepting everybody for who they are. That’s the journey that matters, and what I want to provide.”

Cassano is one half of a “library couple,” with her husband, Rocco, who works as the assistant director of the East Meadow Public Library. Rocco said that he met his wife 11 years ago in a library, and the spirit and dedication she brings to her job is “a breath of fresh air.”

“When she puts her mind to something, she’s all in, and I think the Romance Writers of America recognized that in her,” Rocco said. “Another thing: She is a sweetheart through and through. She’s not negative in any way.”

Jessie Edwards, a spokeswoman for RWA, said this week that Cassano was nominated by a number of RWA board members, some of whom praised her as “a rare gem of a librarian” and “a passionate advocate for romance, whose kindness and compassion are unmistakable from the moment you meet her.”

For Cassano, her job remains all about the people, and the journeys that fiction takes them on.

“They’re like the happiest people I’ve ever met in my life,” she said. “That’s why I have such joy in this . . . It doesn’t matter how crazy their lives are. These women are really doing everything, but this is a time where they can take a couple hours out of their day and get lost, take a breath and go on these journeys.

“These journeys matter.”