The Library Book

From the first time I walked into the East Nashville Public Library with my dad, I have been in love with libraries. He had already presented me with books that captured my heart. The daughter of a printer-publisher had no chance when it came to printed matter. Susan Orlean is another lover of libraries and books, and Orlean’s book, The Library Book, caught my eye quickly. Orlean is a new author to me, and I can’t believe I’m putting that in writing. I should have read more of her work. I understand from one Amazon review I read that “[h]er only peer for nonfiction is John McPhee.” If you haven’t read McPhee and you enjoy nonfiction, you should check out his books and essays. Back to my review. As you’ve learned from the synopsis, The Library Book centers around a fire that consumed the Los Angeles Public Library (“LAPL”) and many of its treasures on April 29, 1986. Investigations into the fire and its cause frustrated police and fire agencies, and investigators focused on one interesting and somewhat intriguing character, Harry Peak. Rather than write about a building, furniture, equipment, books, maps, and other elements of the library, Orlean shares with her readers a living, breathing, and in the midst of the horrific fire, dying soul. She shows us the tiny elements in the life of the library that richly personify it–the staff, the people who come and go on any given day, the children, the homeless, the hungry, the LGBTQ community, the persons who served as head librarian. We, her readers, come to know the library as a standing affirmation of its service to the community. Orlean accomplishes her personification of LAPL through the use of its history from beginning to eventual demise and rebuilding, including the enormous and intricate task of bringing back to their shelves over 700,000 books damaged by smoke and water that day in 1986. LAPL’s history was enriched by meeting those who served as head librarian, including the disputes over whether or not women were fit and capable of holding that position. Some of the chapters on this subject are comical at times in light of today’s continued and difficult upward movement of women into the management level positions in corporate and governmental America. Many have commented that they felt more attention should have been given to the fire rather than historical facts and materials. In my personal opinion, I believe Orlean structured The Library Book as she did because it was the best way to show the reader how important every detail of the LAPL was on the morning of April 29, 1986. In that way, Orlean could affirm the need to work as unceasingly and hard as the staff and others did to bring it back to flourishing life. LAPL was an essential part of the area of Los Angeles in which it resided. To allow it to simply disappear or worse come back as only half of what it had been would have been a blemish on the library’s history and family and a profound statement of how unimportant the library was to its patrons. My Recommendation: If you are a lover of books and libraries, you will love The Library Book for all the reasons I’ve shared with you and perhaps some you can share in your own review. Orleans writing is beautiful in many respects and intelligent and well-researched. As a writer, I have found in Orleans’ writing many lessons upon which I will draw as I continue moving ahead.

Even with its generic title, you may not suspect everything this book contains. Orlean pays homage to all libraries, not just the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) the history of which she covers so thoroughly here. Part tribute, part history, and part true-crime story, the book’s scope is massive. The crime covered is the fire that incinerated 400,000 books and damaged an additional 700,000 while destroying an entire section of the LAPL downtown building in 1986. Orlean researched the fire in detail and in the process spent time with various LAPL department heads, past and present. She has collected the information and laid it out starting with the fire and then interspersing chapters concerning the history of the library. Eccentric, yet forward-thinking individuals who served as library heads are given their due recognition. Notably, an early LAPL library director was a woman, Mary Foy. At 18 years of age in 1880, she oversaw an organization that did not allow women to have library cards and were restricted to all but a single room within the library building. Although the putative arson provides the framework, the incident of the fire is a secondary element in Orlean’s work. Harry Peak, the suspected arsonist, is covered in detail. Peak’s upbringing and links to the fire are described, but the recounting of the actual incident lacks momentum, the characteristic that compels readers to turn the pages. That may be because so much background LAPL information is given between the chapters concerning the fire. While lacking the suspense of a true crime tale, the writing and research are impeccable. This book is a must-read for librarians and those interested in the history of libraries. Community organizers and leaders of social outreach groups will find invaluable information and ideas about co-partnering with the local library using the LAPL as a stellar example. What’s most interesting is the vision the book gives of not a dying institution, but one that can serve as the backbone of a healthy community.

This work by Susan Orlean is several genres of literature rolled into one. It begins as a memoir in which the reader learns about the author's introduction to books and libraries by her mother. They made frequent visits to a local branch in Cleveland. As an adult, Orlean fortuitously was brought to the LA Central Branch library by her son's school project. The family had recently moved to CA from NY. On this initial visit, Orlean learned about the destruction of the LA Central Branch by fire in 1986. Why had she never heard about this event? The memoir morphs into a criminal investigation. The fire occurred on April 29, 1986. It burned for over 7 hours. More than 20 people were injured and over fifty firefighters hospitalized. One million books were damaged, some beyond repair and other contents of the library destroyed irreparably. Fire investigators from both the LA Fire Department and the Federal Department of ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) concluded that the conflagration was caused by arson. Who would do such a thing and why? This is also a history book. It not only traces the history of books, but also the history of the development of libraries. More than just places for the storage of books, libraries, especially the LA Central Branch, have become refuges for the homeless, learning centers for new immigrants, resources for anyone wishing to enroll in public services like welfare, food stamps and job searches. It is a place where people from infants to seniors find books and social connections. Libraries are after all free and open to everyone. The reader will be amazed at the diversity of the collections held in the LA Central Branch. There is a lot of politics involved in both the leadership and funding of libraries. Orlean focuses mainly on the ups and downs of the LA library system from its inception in 1870 to the present. For this reviewer, the most painful part of the history of books and libraries, was that involving the burning of books. The first recorded instance occurred in 213 BC when the Chinese emperor was displeased with "his" history recorded by the royal scribes. He had their manuscripts burned. Orlean reports an estimate of 100,000,000 books burned by the Nazis before and during WWII. Starting with the books and manuscripts of Jews ("the people of the book"), libraries of nations invaded by the Nazis including the national libraries of Poland, the Czech Republic and France were torched. After the war, the Hague passed a Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Did this prevent any further burning of libraries and their contents? Finally, this is a romance, certainly one that the reader can appreciate. Books not only teach, but also transform our worlds. Libraries provide the raw material for our knowledge and transformation be that through hardbacks, paperbacks, E-books or other media. It is fitting that the author dedicates this book to her mother who passed away before the work was completed. For all of us, as Orlean notes, "a library is a place that doesn't belong to me, but feels like mine...marvelous and exceptional." This reviewer urges every reader and patron of libraries to read and revel in this remarkable book which highlights both the written word and the repositories of these treasures.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Parts of it were fabulous while others were less so. The book burning segment, where Orleans actually burns a copy of Fahrenheit 451, was gratuitous, self-absorbed, and ultimately had no business being there. I'd imagine a few readers may have even bailed at that chapter (I almost did). I can also easily see how some readers may have felt hoodwinked into believing this to be an analysis of the fire and the pursuit for the arsonist, where in fact, that's only one yarn being told here. The history of the library itself, the many functions of the library, and to a lesser extent, Mrs. Orlean's experiences while researching the library are delightful. Pretty much anyone interested enough to even consider a book called 'The Library Book' - unless you're in it solely for the arsonist angle - should check this out. It's an easy read, good for a side burner (as the chapters, in some cases, almost work as independent essays), and outside of the book burning reenactment (which is a puzzler, I won't lie), is inoffensive and only mildly provocative. I plan on going through the bibliography for some further reading into some of the fascinating characters, almost all of which, I'd never heard of.

On April 28, 1986 the Los Angeles Central Public Library burned down destroying or damaging over one million books. This event was mostly left unreported because the news was focused on the Nuclear Accident at Chernobyl. I live in Southern California and don’t believe it registered with me at the time. And I doubt that it ever occurred to me that someone would write a whole book using this fire to explore the wonders of libraries and books. Yet, here in my hands is exactly that… a wonderful entertaining and educational book about Libraries and a hunt for the arsonist combined. The confessed arsonist was a part time actor named Harry Peek who confessed several times all with different stories, different facts, and different time lines. Harry even sued the city for accusing him and the city countersued to prove him guilty. I came to this book because it was on my wife’s Christmas gift list. On Christmas day I was looking at it and realized the author was Susan Orlean wrote aso wroth the highly entertaining book RIN TIN TIN, THE LIFE AND THE LEGEND. A book I greatly enjoyed about the bog movie star. So I gave up on the huge thick book I had begun and started to read about libraries. There is one caveat about the LIBRARY BOOK and that is it contains a lot of information about Los Angeles, its Library, and history. I do question if I would have found the book quite as intriguing if it was about say the Nashville, Tennessee Library. This is one of those non-fiction books that buts the author into the story especially as Orlean records interviews and makes value judgements on Harry Peek’s guilt or innocence. In this narrative this works great because we need someone who organizes and quantifies the material. In addition to learning about the LA Library fire we learn about fires, how they are investigated, how hot they get, how long the burn to the point where Orlean burns a book to empirically experience the books reaction. We get Ray Bradbury stories and stories of many of the past Librarians and the politics of city management of their Libraries. In early 1900 the head librarian was a woman and she was fired and replaced by a man who was given twice her salary. When it went to court it was found acceptable because it was shown that Woman ran no corporations in California. I don’t wish to go on because I suggest you leave yourself open to surprises of real life that jump from the narration. I also can imagine every librarian present and retired will smile reading the book as the book gives away many secrets about Library’s. They are not just book depositories they are community centers working with homeless, reading groups for kids, information centers and as Susan Orlean puts it Library’s yell “Here I am, please tell your story; here is my story please listen.” No doubt every reading club in America and especially Los Angeles will be excited to read and discuss this most amazing story.

I just wish that every book I read were written half as well as this one. Susan Orlean has educated us here not only about the 1986 Los Angeles Central Library fire but about libraries in general and how their mission and repositories have changed over time. The LA library houses vast collections of everything from maps to patent documents and serves as a haven for homeless people. Orlean also weaves in the story of Harry Peak, a pathological liar who told friends that he had torched the library. His claims alternated between confession and alibi, and authorities were never able to ascertain with certainty that the fire was the work of an arsonist; faulty wiring could have been the culprit. Ironically, the fire itself got limited news coverage when it happened, because the news of another disaster—Chernobyl--overshadowed it. The fire may be the central event in the book, but the true everyday heroes are the librarians and staff. They answer questions that are as diverse as the people who ask them. They ship gazillions of books to and from the branches and catalog all nature of materials. I can’t begin to list all of the functions that the library performs that I had never before considered. This book is truly an eye-opener that will cause me to look at my local branch librarians with a lot more appreciation.

I was instantly hooked! I was reminded of my childhood and how special it was for me to ride into to town with my mother and go to the library. Although my library was important to me, it never occurred to me that there we other libraries out there that were important to others. Orlean does an amazing job or presenting an incredible amount of facts and figures and an insane amount of detail but the story that is woven into that insane amount of detail is so well written and reads so easily and joyfully that your brain simply accepts all the details and does not get bogged down by them. A very good read!

Fun read!

I have always loved libraries. I've never been to Los Angeles, or its central library, but in The Library Book, Susan Orleans takes you there. This book is a story of a place, a history, a city. It is the story of a tragedy, too: the fire that almost wiped out a temple to learning.

Great

Brings back that feeling of waiting for our small Library to open on Wednesday afternoons in anticipation of finding a new treasure

This begins as a "whodunnit" about the tragic fire of the LA library and the prime arson suspect but evolves into the story of the development of libraries across the US and some of the key personalities involved. You will learn about some fabulous women but also that Melvil Dewey, creator of the Dewey Decimal categorization system, was a genius but a tragically flawed one: he was a serial harasser of women as well as a racist and an anti-semite. These facts are now well documented. This is a fascinating, informative and engaging read for libraries and lovers of libraries.

I chose this book because of a book club recommendation (thanks Reese Witherspoon) and am glad I did. The only libraries I’ve been in since I finished my last degree are in cities around the world that I’ve been on vacation in. I visited the Chicago Public Library, the Salt Lake City Library, and a monastery’s library in Prague - all at least as much fir the buildings themselves as to see the books. This book is a fascinating mix of crime story, historical non-fiction, biography and love story. Susan has weaved together so many aspects of the life of this one library into one compelling story. I can only imagine the hours of research that went into it. Above all else, it’s made me want to add the Central Library to my itinerary if I’m ever in LA again.