Bookworms often live in a fog of fiction – legends and fairy tales, battles and drama, building great things, even a brush with royalty. And sometimes, those tales actually come to life.

Take the story of Zvi Rabin.

The British native founded the Chabad-Lubavitch lending library in Stamford Hill, England, more than 40 years ago, after hearing a talk on the topic by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of righteous memory. It was around 1970, and Rabin was a young student of librarianship who got married in the middle of his course work to a young lady named Feigie, who shared his connection to Chabad.

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“At the time, I worked at a college library,” recalls Rabin. “I often stayed up late into the night to listen to the Rebbe’s talks by telephone hookup.” In one particular talk the Rebbe discussed the importance of setting up libraries in all Jewish communities. But who would take on the task?

“Everybody knew I was a librarian, so we started 40 years ago and never let up,” he says.

After a year of involvement in the effort, he traveled to New York and spoke with the Rebbe about libraries – the ones he was working at for a living and the new Lubavitch one. “The Rebbe counseled me not just about the books,” Rabin recalls. “He also spoke to me about library cabinets and library furniture and how to treat people in libraries.”

Inspired, he and his wife eventually went from volunteering their time on Sunday evenings to full-time volunteer work at the library. They embraced the lifestyle, making it their goal to open up the Jewish world for others. Little by little, they seemed to do just that.

Two-and-a half years ago, the couple moved the library's growing collection into a bigger space on the first floor of the Lubavitch Children’s Centre in Stamford Hill – and it has simply “taken off,” they say.

It seems that the Queen of England agrees with that assessment. Rabin and the library have been honored with an MBE award – Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – after being nominated for services to libraries.

The biannual honor roll fills up with everyone from politicians to sportsmen to ordinary people who are recognized for accomplishments such as his, according to Rabin. So he headed to Buckingham Palace this week to receive the award, accompanied by his mother, wife and a daughter whose birthday is that same day, Feb. 20.

Rabin says he hopes to see Chabad-Lubavitch libraries receive more of a spotlight as a result of his award. While Chabad might be known as a great place to learn about tefillin, mezuzahs or keeping kosher, he hopes to see libraries take on more of a central role. He said he would also hopes to see Chabad librarians get together annually to discuss how to increase their collections and clientele.

Rabin hopes the award raises visibility for his library, which today holds about 18,000 books in Hebrew, Yiddish and English. It lends out everything from children’s books to folios of the Talmud, books on marriage and a variety of other texts – to the tune of 5,000 to 6,000 books a month.

The Rabins keep long hours – he estimates 50 or so a week – to accommodate patrons. “One of the secrets of making a library a success is to have very long hours,” he says. It sees people of all backgrounds come for recommendations, resources and advice, and draws a much wider mix of readers from other Chasidic and Orthodox groups where it used to see more of a Chabad base.

Zissi Ciment of London is an avid reader who discovered the lending library as a teen. Now a mother of four, “library” was one of her 2-year-old son’s first words, she says. She considers the library her place of refuge and brings her children there frequently.

She likes the layout, the atmosphere and the availability of new books she can put on reserve, she says. It also offers a selection she can count on: “In this library, every single book is kosher, inspirational and educational.”

As for the librarian himself, Ciment says she’s glad to see Rabin recognized publicly for the volunteer work he does day in and day out with his wife. “They do this all singlehandedly; it’s very special,” she says. “They really deserve it. You don’t see this kind of devotion for altruistic reasons very often.”