The Library Book

This pleasant read reminds me of the works of Simon Winchester, another author who specializes in picking obscure topics & bringing them to life. In this case, Orlean's ostensible topic is a library fire that destroyed much of the Los Angeles Central Library back in the 1980s, but mostly this is an excuse for a leisurely riff on a range of related topics, to include:

* An exploration of the full scope of library operations, from the folks who check out the books to the folks who package them up to deliver to other libraries throughout the system; from the folks who add the hashtags to cataloged photos, to the reference librarians who answer even the most ridiculous questions with grace and restraint; from teen librarians working to create safe spaces for adolescents to community outreach directors racing to invent & implement programming to meet each community's unique needs.

* LA history, from rough-and-tumble ranchers to orange trees to Hollywood to Compton and beyond. It's kind of wonderful how the head librarians of the library channel each era, from the hard-working women directors of the 1800s who opened the library to the masses, to the delightfully eccentric Charles Lummis (think Teddy Roosevelt meets Oscar Wilde) who oversaw the library during LA's wild years, to the building's current, unapologetically liberal director

* A quick survey of libraries past, present and future, from a riff on the Library of Alexandria to a much more somber and provocative exploration of how libraries have, over the years, become the target of oppressors (Nazis, etc.) intent upon eliminating not just their enemies, but entire cultures and ways of life.

* Lots of weird library trivia - like the fact that con men used to cut pictures out of library books to create faux pamphlets, that people used to leave messages for each other in the margins of books, and that orchestras borrow orchestral scores from the library but they like to keep their upcoming programs furtive so librarians have to be careful to conceal which orchestras are performing which texts.

*There's even a fairly interesting discussion of the history of arson investigation, which seems to suggest that everything we know about investigating arson is probably hooey.

Mostly, though, the book invites us to contemplate the role of libraries and literature in our lives, in our communities, and in our culture. I probably shouldn't have been surprised that every member of my book group had a personal story about libraries that they were eager to share, which gradually turned into a discussion of how we use libraries now and how we imagine libraries may be used in the future. Our happy conclusion: in spite of ebooks and streaming services and the internet, libraries keep finding ways to make themselves essential, and that isn't likely to wane any time soon. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I find the author's fascination with obscure people, or events, to be very interesting. She is a good researcher, and writes in a way which caught me immediately.

I literally plucked this book off the shelf in a small public library near where I live. I started reading right a way and could not put her down.

Recommended to those who find American culture and history fascinating. ( )

"The Library Book" by Susan Orlean fascinated me and kept me reading hungrily from beginning to end. The "hook" that caught my attention to get me to read this book was that it was the all too real story of the massive fire at the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986, an even unknown to many because it occurred simultaneously with the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, USSR, but was th library equivalent of a nuclear disaster of its own. 400,000 books were totally destroyed, 700,000 severely damages, full collections of various media and special items were lost forever in a fire that lasted 7 hours and required 300 firefighters.
The arson squad determined that the fire had been set by human hands and "The Library Book" includes chapters about the prime suspect interwoven with other chapters about the grand and elegant LA Library, its functions and operations, and its place in the history of Los Angeles.
Beyond that story, however, Orlean weaves in everything you would ever want to know about libraries in general and the LA Library specifically. From its history, to its mode of operation, to mini-biographies of the various librarians it has had and, best of all to me, a beautiful description of its architecture and interior art and design.
In fact, her story and especially her descriptions of the art and architecture made me make a special trip across the LA basin to go see it. It is a very special building, a temple to knowledge while also being a cozy and inviting escape for readers, students, researchers and just plain folks.
This is a great book about a great library, and a tribute to the importance, essentialness, really, of public libraries.
Now, if we could only get politicians to quit reducing their funds and more Americans to actually read! ( )

I was an adult when the Los Angeles Central Library was destroyed by fire in 1986. I really have not recollection of it even though it kind of made national news. It happened the same week as Chernobyl and was overshadowed just a bit. This one of the tidbits you learn in Orlean's book on the fire. At first, I thought she was all over the place and wondered if I remembered liking The Orchid Thief as much as I thought I did. Then I began to enjoy the little side trips she took into the history of LA, librarianship, the LA public library, arson investigation, etc. I love how she began each chapter with book titles and their Dewey Decimal classification number related to the chapter's content. As I read, I tried to figure out how they related. Interesting read. ( )

I thought this book was going to be about the LA Central Library fire, and parts of it were, but much of it was a mixture of research on libraries in general, the history and the destruction of..., LA history, a history of that library and its employees, and Orlean's experiences while researching for this book. At first I was disappointed, as it seemed erratic in its approach, but as I accustomed myself to the changes in venue, I found it interesting. When I was first reading it, I thought it a 4 star, and then finished by thinking of it as a 3 star, but after thinking about it more and more after, I put it back to a 4 star. ( )