Recent Reads: The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Library Book by Susan Orlean 
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date:  October 16, 2018 

 

Format: Audible Audiobook
Source: Bought/Own

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.

In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.

Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present—from Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as “The Human Encyclopedia” who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves.

Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalist’s reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.

Review: 

Complete honesty here - I picked up this book because the fire happened on the day I was born (probably dating myself) I was very intrigued! I also have an Audible subscription so I am constantly looking for interesting things to listen to and this one called to me. I am a lover of books, of libraries, and the date called to me.

Orlean weaves a wonderful tale of the 1986 fire, the present day library and its keepers, as well as the overall history of the library. Each chapter is begun with a list of book titles, authors, and call number that are central to the theme of the upcoming chapter. It is strange but a clever way to show how we references things. This might be lost on those that do not know call numbering or use libraries extensively which is a bit saddening. 

I was most intrigued by the fire and the case, it allowed for me to become more interested in the history and future of the library and was a good way to put it all out there. Orlean does a wonderful job researching everything about this - the library itself, interviewing the people working there, working with them, and explaining why she herself was so invested in this topic. 

Overall this was very well done. I really enjoyed learning all about the library and made me want to find my local library sooner rather than later - which I now have.