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The Library Book

Susan Orlean (Goodreads Author)

3.91 · Rating details · 73,633 ratings · 12,908 reviews

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 mor 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. ...more

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Hardcover, First Edition, 317 pages

Published October 16th 2018 by Simon & Schuster

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Mar 20, 2019 Zoë rated it it was amazing

*chef's kiss*

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Feb 11, 2020 Jesse (JesseTheReader) added it

I'm suddenly eager to run off to my local library and check out *ALL THE BOOKS* This book gives a lot of insight on what goes into running a library and has you growing a sense of appreciation for those who put in the the work to keep everything afloat. It's kind of shaped as a true crime book, but evolves into a love letter to books & libraries. At times it was a whiplash experience for me in terms of enjoyment as I didn't always find much interest in some of the things that were being explored ...more

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Oct 25, 2018 Angela M rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-reviews

4.5 stars
Hundreds of thousands of books were burned to nothing but ash and hundreds of thousands of books were damaged - enough to bring chills up the spine of any book lover reading this book about the fire at the Los Angeles Public Library that occurred on April 29, 1986. The research and the writing here are impeccable. The descriptions of the fire, the librarians’ reactions, and the many, many volunteers who wanted to help - it’s as if it’s being reported in real time. The book, however, co 4.5 stars
Hundreds of thousands of books were burned to nothing but ash and hundreds of thousands of books were damaged - enough to bring chills up the spine of any book lover reading this book about the fire at the Los Angeles Public Library that occurred on April 29, 1986. The research and the writing here are impeccable. The descriptions of the fire, the librarians’ reactions, and the many, many volunteers who wanted to help - it’s as if it’s being reported in real time. The book, however, covers so much more than the story of the fire, although it’s the main focus. It is in many ways a tribute to libraries and librarians and what they stand for and the importance of the library now and in the future. It is a personal testament to Orlean’s love of libraries and her early experiences going to the library as a young child with her mother. I loved her reminiscing because it made me remember my own history with the public library in the neighborhood where I grew up. I remember the hours I spent there and some of the books that I read and the fond memories of when I worked there as a library “page” in high school and through college.

This is also a fascinating history of the LA public library and the library directors, the City Librarians, over the years. It’s the story of the people who use the library. It’s the story of the volunteers who after the fire “worked for the next three days around the clock.....They formed a human chain, passing the books hand over hand from one person to the next, through the smoky building and out the door. It was as if, in this urgent moment, people, the people of Los Angeles formed a living library. They created for a short time, a system to protect and pass along shared knowledge, to save what we know for each other, which is what libraries do every day.” I was also struck by the stunning words of a librarian, Jill Crane who helped with the cleanup and wrote in a poem:

“We held charred and water soaked
chunks of books in our hands,
history, imagination, knowledge
crumbing in our fingers.
we packed what was left.”

She also gives us Harry Peak’s story, arrested but never charged with starting the fire and describes the difficulty of proving arson and proving that he was responsible. So much is contained in the book and I felt at times that it was a little scattered moving from the fire to her experiences, to the history and then to the fire and the investigation. But ultimately it was an an emotional book for me as a retired librarian, although not a public librarian, but mostly as a book lover. The scenes described of the burned and damaged books got me in my gut and the coming together of volunteers to do what they could got me in my heart and then when several years after the fire, the library reopened. This fabulous book is an ode to librarians and the public library, which represents the fabric of our society in so many ways.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley. ...more

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Nov 05, 2018 Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018-reads, arcs, kindle-version

This is absolutely brilliant nonfiction - and a book about books - about libraries! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

In April 1986, there was a large fire in the Los Angeles Public Library; so large, in fact, that over four hundred thousand books were burned completely and seven hundred thousand more were damaged. Initially, the thoughts were that this was arson, yet no one has been convicted, and a mystery still surrounds the act.

The Library Book accomplishes several things. First, Susan Orlean has researched t ...more

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Dec 20, 2018 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it

An ode to libraries past and present. To the importance of books, and how they are used by malignant governments, book burning, to control and frighten their citizens. Although the main focus in on the library in Los Angeles and the fire that destroyed it and so many of their materials, this book is so much more. The way libraries have had to change and adapt in light of our electronic obsession, in order to stay viable in our communities.

In a engaging manner, she takes the reader through histo ...more

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Aug 23, 2018 Madeline rated it liked it

3.5.. mixed opinions on this, but I’ll post something later! It dragged on a bit too much at the end, and as I read, I got more exasperated.
-
Okay! Time to explain myself.
In The Library Book Orlean aims to offer a well-rounded discussion of libraries, rooted by the story of the Los Angeles Library fire in 1986. When I read the summary of this book, there was a lot of emphasis placed on the library fire, which really drew me in. I was curious to learn more about it, and hoped this book would provi 3.5.. mixed opinions on this, but I’ll post something later! It dragged on a bit too much at the end, and as I read, I got more exasperated.
-
Okay! Time to explain myself.
In The Library Book Orlean aims to offer a well-rounded discussion of libraries, rooted by the story of the Los Angeles Library fire in 1986. When I read the summary of this book, there was a lot of emphasis placed on the library fire, which really drew me in. I was curious to learn more about it, and hoped this book would provide a detailed, exciting explanation. Instead, I found Orlean's narrative style rather choppy, and lacking focus.

The narrative is hard to follow, especially since Orlean introduces so many different 'story lines'—historical (sometimes multiple historical threads going at once), observational, her own memories— and then alternates between each one in chapters that vary in length. While this usually keeps a book moving and helps me maintain focus, I found it hard to remember the details of the previous section on that same topic when I returned to a chapter on that same topic.

Since Orlean jumps between all these topics so often, it makes the whole narrative hard to follow, and creates a lack of focus in general. While I appreciate library history and all the other details Orlean explored, I wanted to learn more about the fire itself. It was hard to mush all the different chapters I had read about the fire into one coherent story, since all the chapters are broken up and separated. I feel like this book should be marketed less as one about the fire, and one more about libraries (or the LA central library) in general. I think that would have helped me 'tame' my expectations regarding the focus of the book.

My last complaint is that sometimes Orlean gets so deep in small plot points that really have no purpose. She goes on and on with small, topical details about library history, which especially began to grate on me in the end. I felt that the book really dragged on in the end, as I began to get sick of the lack of focus on the fire, and the endless, seemingly meaningless, details about the library, or libraries in general. I felt like Orlean was listing trivia points for no point other than to show off all the weird things she discovered during her research. It would have been nice to see all these details cohered into some sort of larger purpose, but that didn't happen.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, but as I continued, I began to get more frustrated. If you are curious about library history and the LA public library system, then I would definitely read this book, just to learn some history. Orlean's writing is strong and propels the book forward, at least making this a pleasurable read. I did really enjoy parts of this book, so I can't completely write it off.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Schuster for providing me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
...more

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Nov 27, 2018 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Susan Orlean was speaking with the Los Angeles Times about this book before its release....( I enjoyed listening to her speak on NPR as well).
When talking about her interest in writing about a big city library this is what Susan said:
“I could have done that anywhere. I like the idea of doing it in L.A., out of this
contrarian idea that people don’t associate libraries with L.A., which made it kind of delectable. That said, the 1986 fire ( forgive me), was a spark!

The reason I find Susan’s comm ...more

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Nov 12, 2018 Tucker rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-favorites

Susan Orlean is a true genius at bringing seemingly any subject to life in a manner which is utterly fascinating and immensely readable. I’d even read instruction manuals and Congressional reports if she wrote them! Whether it’s orchids, Rin Tin Tin, or unconventional travel adventures, her extensive research, writing style and the manner in which she weaves topics and time periods together results in books I recommend to a wide variety of readers. Her latest book, “The Library Book,” is an exam Susan Orlean is a true genius at bringing seemingly any subject to life in a manner which is utterly fascinating and immensely readable. I’d even read instruction manuals and Congressional reports if she wrote them! Whether it’s orchids, Rin Tin Tin, or unconventional travel adventures, her extensive research, writing style and the manner in which she weaves topics and time periods together results in books I recommend to a wide variety of readers. Her latest book, “The Library Book,” is an examination of libraries and their changing and essential place in communities. For anyone who wonders about the relevance of libraries when books, magazines, and so much information is readily available on-line, Orlean’s exploration of their continuing evolution into a community gathering place, a provider of social and cultural services, a place to find an abundance of printed material along with movies, music, and even musical instruments was captivating and very informative. Orlean also writes extensively about the extremely devastating fire at the Los Angeles Public Library on April 28, 1986 in which over a million books were either damaged or destroyed. Alongside that, she shares her personal experiences with libraries and how important they have been in her life.

“Our visits to the library were never long enough for me. The place was so bountiful. I loved wandering around the bookshelves, scanning the spines until something happened to catch my eye. Those visits were dreamy, frictionless interludes that promised I would leave richer than I arrived. It wasn’t like going to the store with my mom, which guaranteed a tug-of-war between what I wanted and what my mother was willing to buy me, because I could have anything I wanted in the library. After we checked out, I loved being in the car and having all the books we’d gotten stacked on my lap, pressing me under their solid, warm weight, their Mylar covers sticking a bit to my thighs. It was such a thrill leaving a place with things you hadn’t paid for; such a thrill, anticipating the new books we would read.”

Her lyrical and insightful writing about books and how alive they always are should speak to anyone who loves books, reading, and libraries.

“A book feels like a thing alive in this moment, and also alive on a continuum, from the moment the thoughts about it first percolated in the writer’s mind to the moment it sprang off the printing press—a lifeline that continues as someone sits with it and marvels over it, and it continues on, time and time and time. Once words and thoughts are poured into them, books are no longer just paper and ink and glue: They take on a kind of human vitality.”

I recommend this book wholeheartedly to all readers and book lovers. Not to be missed.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. ...more

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Nov 29, 2018 Diane Yannick rated it it was ok

If I hadn’t read it on my Kindle, I would have considered burning this book after I finished it. Yeah, I finished it even though I was bored senseless. The author did a lot of research so I gave her 2 stars for sticking with it. I could picture her with a Rolodex of notecards with every last fact that she had uncovered about this massive fire and anything else vaguely connected. Then she didn’t stop until she had put EVERY last fact into this book.

I like libraries. I’m sorry this one burned in ...more

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Jun 18, 2019 Julie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley, non-fiction, e-book, 2019, true-crime, history, books-about-books

The Library Book by Susan Orlean is a 2018 Simon & Schuster publication.

I couldn’t have been happier when this book finally reached the top of my TBR pile. I’ve been looking forward to reading it for a long time. Naturally, I was drawn to the ‘books about books’ aspect, but was also mortified by the true crime elements. Who on earth would deliberately set fire to a public library?

Susan Orlean attempts to answer that very question, while detailing the rich history of the Los Angeles public libra ...more

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Nov 17, 2018 Brina rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, los-angeles, books-about-books, libraries

Libraries have played a integral part of my life from the time I was a kid. My first library was the Bradbury Library where the magical world of reading opened to me and I participated in my first summer reading program. I graduated to more libraries, a larger world of books, conversations with librarians, and a variety of summer reading programs. When I first found out about Susan Orlean’s The Library Book, I was naturally intrigued by the title. When the description featured the 1986 Los Angel Libraries have played a integral part of my life from the time I was a kid. My first library was the Bradbury Library where the magical world of reading opened to me and I participated in my first summer reading program. I graduated to more libraries, a larger world of books, conversations with librarians, and a variety of summer reading programs. When I first found out about Susan Orlean’s The Library Book, I was naturally intrigued by the title. When the description featured the 1986 Los Angeles Central Library fire, I was mortified but still wanted to read what was being billed as true crime in hopes that the Los Angeles police brought the criminals to justice. What I found out by reading this book about libraries is to judge a book by its cover, or, in this case, it’s reviews.

Susan Orlean spent a good part of her youth going to libraries with her mother. The trips were magical and she could never wait until her next trip to find out what books were in store for her. Life happened. Orlean became a renown author and a frequenter of book stores rather than libraries for a good portion of her life. She also decided that she was done researching for and writing books as the time spent on them took her away from her job and family. Then her husband accepted a job in Los Angeles and the family relocated. One day, Orlean’s son received a school assignment to interview a civil servant. He chose to speak with a librarian, and Orlean took her then six-year-old son to their local branch library. As if by magic, her feelings of trips to the library with her mother returned. Orlean became a library patron once again. Around that time, her mother was diagnosed with senile dementia. She decided that she would write another book for her mother and have it focus on libraries.

The library book may detail the Los Angeles Central Library fire of April 29, 1986, but the book is in part the history of the Los Angeles library system. As a history connoisseur, I found this facet of Orlean’s research to be fascinating. She heads back in time to the founding of the library in the 1870s when Los Angeles was a sleepy town located in the San Bernardino valley. The gold rush had passed and Los Angeles was a town of orange groves and avocado trees, essentially a farming community. Yet, the migrants who start flocking to California were literary minded and wanted a library similar to ones they used in eastern cities. By 1872, the library had been born. A good fifty years before women gained suffrage, the first four head librarians in Los Angeles were women, until the times caught up with them. These women, highlighted by the impeccable Mary Jones, brought the library to the forefront of national libraries, and eastern cities took note.

It was not until Andrew Carnegie made libraries his philanthropy of choice that the Los Angeles library modernized. Carnegie designated Los Angeles as one of the 1700 sites nationwide that would receive funding for a new building for its central location as well as branch sites. This came at a time when Los Angeles had become a leading city in the west, a center of commerce and the motion picture industry. People flocked to California from the east, and the library kept expanding as books overflowed from each new location. The Los Angeles city council voted that Bertram Goodhue should design the new library building. The architecture would rival the central libraries in New York and Chicago and would provide Angelenos space enough to house a book collection now numbering in the hundred thousands. Andrew Carnegie had cemented Los Angeles as an intellectual hub of the west.

Through her impeccable research, Orlean describes the Library fire in detail while also interviewing the present and future of libraries with current Los Angeles librarians as well as writing of the entire history of the city library system. With all the facets of the story, I was mesmerized as though I had entered a central library building myself. What I found most telling is that librarians and Orlean concur that libraries factor more than ever in society in today’s digital age. People want a free space to be able to borrow books, videos, conduct research, attend a variety of programs, and take young children to story hour to introduce them to the magical world of books. Orlean weaves the past, present, and future in her story seamlessly as I read through her book over the course of one day. Libraries still matter, and Susan Orlean makes that point clear in her touching ode to public libraries everywhere.

4 stars ...more

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May 13, 2019 Candi rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, mystery-crime, history

"In the library, time is dammed up – not just stopped but saved. The library is a gathering pool of narratives and of the people who come to find them. It is where we can glimpse immortality; in the library, we can live forever."

Like nearly everyone else here on Goodreads, libraries have always been like an oasis for me, a place I could escape to and be alone if I felt so inclined, or as part of a community of people that share the same love of books. My library card is one of my most treasured "In the library, time is dammed up – not just stopped but saved. The library is a gathering pool of narratives and of the people who come to find them. It is where we can glimpse immortality; in the library, we can live forever."

Like nearly everyone else here on Goodreads, libraries have always been like an oasis for me, a place I could escape to and be alone if I felt so inclined, or as part of a community of people that share the same love of books. My library card is one of my most treasured belongings. It has given me countless hours of pleasure over the years and allowed me to visit extraordinary places and meet remarkable individuals. Author Susan Orlean shares the same adoration of books and libraries, and it’s quite evident here in this book which is much like an ode of sorts to libraries.

In 1986, I was still in high school. I guess that’s why the news of the tragic fire in the Los Angeles Central Library completely escaped my notice. I was writing papers and solving algebraic equations rather than listening to the news. This book educated me on the subject of this catastrophe in a very engaging manner. The real magnitude of the fire, smoke and water damage to the books was staggering to say the least! Orlean attempts to unravel the mystery of just how the fire was started, but to this day there is no definitive answer – although there was one prime suspect throughout. We learn a lot about this suspect and the reasons why he may or may not have committed the crime. Arson investigations in general are very difficult crimes to prove and this one no less so.

This is so much more than just a true crime piece, however, and for that I was quite pleased. In fact, I found ‘chasing’ after the suspect to be the least compelling portion of the book. Instead, I gobbled up all the fascinating history of Central Library, libraries in general, and librarians across the years. Such a diverse group of men and women have been in charge of the library since it was established in 1873. Perhaps the most unconventional individual, at least from what I’ve garnered here, was Charles Fletcher Lummis. He caught the nation’s attention when he walked thousands of miles on foot from Cincinnati to Los Angeles to work for the Los Angeles Times prior to his engagement with the library. I found the reason for opposition to Lummis’s appointment to be rather comical: "… he never set foot in a library school, wore eccentric corduroy suits and was known to drink and swear on occasion." In fact, I have to remember to pass on this little tidbit to the director of my hometown library. I’m sure he’ll find it just as amusing!

There’s so much more to be found in the pages of this wonderful book. Andrew Carnegie’s philanthropy as well as that of Bill and Melinda Gates is also touched upon. The changes that libraries have undergone over the years, the introduction of technology, and the initiatives to keep them a vital part of our communities also kept me glued to the page. I admire Susan Orleans' tremendous effort in researching this book. I recommend it to anyone that loves their library. I think this book would be best viewed as one about the history of the LA Central Library versus putting the emphasis on the fire. The fire is a large and fascinating, but only partial, part of the overall picture here. I'm rating this 4 versus 5 stars due to the fact I found the jumping around in time and narrative to be a little bit distracting. Just a minor complaint considering how much I enjoyed reading this one.

"… libraries have persisted, and they have grown, and they will certainly endure."
...more

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Apr 03, 2019 Justin Tate rated it it was amazing

Like a library, The Library Book has it all. With the mostly-forgotten Los Angeles library fire of 1986 as a backdrop, Orlean takes us on a journey that is a mix of true crime mystery, character study, history, political intrigue, tragedy, comedy, romance, and so much more. The research she reveals about head librarians spanning centuries seems like an impossible record to find--but, of course, libraries would hold on to all that information.

She structures the book as an even pace, blending the ...more

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Jul 05, 2018 PattyMacDotComma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: readers, book-lovers, historians, fire buffs

Shelves: kindle, group-reads, history, politics-culture-social, aa, fiction-adult, arc-netgalley-done

5★
“All the things that are wrong in the world seem conquered by a library’s simple unspoken promise: Here is my story, please listen; here I am, please tell me your story.”

For many people, I imagine libraries are like places of worship - everyone is made to feel welcome and part of a greater community.

In the case of a library, it’s a community not only of readers, but also of people looking for someone to answer their questions, migrants taking literacy classes, people needing help with bureaucr ...more

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Jan 21, 2019 Lucy Langford rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.5* rounded up!

“The library is a gathering pool of narratives and of the people who come to find them. It is where we can glimpse immortality; in the library, we can live forever.”

This book follows, and is a thorough investigation, into the Los Angeles public library fire. This fire occurred on April 29 1986 and destroyed more than 400,000 books, as well as rare photographs, manuscripts and first editions. However, this was not largely publicised or given as much attention due the overshadowing ...more

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Dec 29, 2018 Chrissie rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-read, history, bio, audible

It feels as though the author was searching for adequate information to fill this book. It covers so many topics, it spreads itself thin. It has breadth rather than depth. It is not only about the huge fire that destroyed the Los Angeles Central Library on April 29, 1986, but also about the man singled out as having started the fire. Yet you know at the start, his culpability will be left unresolved, and therefore, other topics of interest had to be added. Lots and lots of other information is a ...more

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Jul 08, 2018 Jenny rated it it was amazing

Some of the fondest childhood memories I have were of my Mother taking me to the library. I held my Moms hand as we walked in and as so as I saw my section, I begged to let go of her hand as I nearly ran to grab new books that my parents and I would read together. My Mother’s arms were full of mysteries, best sellers, biographies, cookbooks and of course, my books. I loved seeing my Mom stack the books on the counter and then that sound. The sound of the library clerk stamping the library card w Some of the fondest childhood memories I have were of my Mother taking me to the library. I held my Moms hand as we walked in and as so as I saw my section, I begged to let go of her hand as I nearly ran to grab new books that my parents and I would read together. My Mother’s arms were full of mysteries, best sellers, biographies, cookbooks and of course, my books. I loved seeing my Mom stack the books on the counter and then that sound. The sound of the library clerk stamping the library card with the due date in each book.
As I grew older, I was allowed to ride my bike to the library and using my own library card, I ventured to the teen sectiion for the latest Judy Blume book. Now as adult, my love of the library continues as I carry more books than I should to the counter to hear the electronic beep of knowing that for three weeks, those books are mine.
The Library has been an essential part of my life so I was thrilled to have a chance to read Susan Orlean’s new book, The Library Book.
This nonfictional account of the 1986 fire of the Los Angeles Central Library. Orlean recounts in The Library Book, the fire that destroyed over 400,000 books and damaged another 700,000 more in the span of seven hours.
The fire and the mystery of who set the fire alone would be a compelling tale by itself but Orlean gives us so much more.
According to the Public Library Manifesto published by UNESCO, “The library is a prerequisite to let citizens make use of their right to information and freedom of speech. Free access to information is necessary in a democratic society, for open debate and creation of public opinion.”
Orlean goes to great lengths and depth to showcase the importance and role of libraries in our communities. The Library Book is such a captivating novel with a blend of mystery, history and thorough analysis of the future of libraries.
Read Susan Orlean’s novel and you will have visited the mystery, geography, biography, humor, history and political sections of a library all in one book. Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book. My reviews are fair and unbiased. #netgalley #thelibrarybook ...more

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Mar 16, 2019 Linda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, favorites, 5-star-winners, history

"Usually, a fire is red and orange and yellow and black. The fire in the library was colorless. You could look right through it, as if it were a sheet of glass."

Like looking through tears comes to mind. The catastrophic fire that engulfed the Los Angeles Central Library on April 29, 1986 was beyond description. The loss is immeasurable in terms of rare volumes of books defining our human past, our on-going present, and our ever changing stepping stones into the future.

There's a kind of hush whi "Usually, a fire is red and orange and yellow and black. The fire in the library was colorless. You could look right through it, as if it were a sheet of glass."

Like looking through tears comes to mind. The catastrophic fire that engulfed the Los Angeles Central Library on April 29, 1986 was beyond description. The loss is immeasurable in terms of rare volumes of books defining our human past, our on-going present, and our ever changing stepping stones into the future.

There's a kind of hush while taking that all in......

The Library Book by Susan Orlean is a love sonnet to every book we humans have ever opened and a cherished memory with each slip of the hand gliding across page after page with tactile delight. It is an extension of one's self entering into a mysterious land far beyond the familiar. Curiously, unlike a first love, opening a new anxiously awaited volume can repeat that flicker of a heartbeat again and again throughout a lifetime.

Susan Orlean takes us on a tour of the inner chambers of the library as an architectural feat. We envision its beauty in moments of before and after. Her research is impeccable into the history of libraries in general and the Los Angeles Library in particular. Orlean lines this research with countless interviews of eye-witnesses and staff who were there that fateful day. She brings in anecdotes from the city's first librarians way back in 1859 when public libraries first appeared.

Believe me, this is not a dull, dry, dusty version winding through a maze of bookshelves. Orlean adds sizzle with almost combative Sumo wrestlers vying for the position of head librarian. We'll meet a cast of characters both quirky and intellectual. Men were the preferred choice unlike the usual visual of the ol' school marm lady librarian. One interim female librarian refused to turn over her keys and bodily sat in all the meetings. I have the keys to the kingdom, Buddy......

Orlean provides a high interest thread about Harry Peak who was suspected of setting the fire. Harry's rendition of that day kept changing like a well-handled Hollywood script. She injects his little scenarios in just the right places. You'll be tossing back and forth on Harry.

It's my belief that libraries were elevated to great new heights due to the philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, who launched a library building project in 1890. Carnegie was born into poverty and gained phenomenal wealth in steel and railroads. He never forgot his love of books. Even small towns across America bear his name in the entrance of their libraries to this day. And even more success is noted that in the expansion it was necessary to hire more librarians........and oh, there were throngs of women this time, Folks.

The Library Book is quite the reading experience. It is one in which you, indeed, feel part of the journey from your own childhood romps behind library shelves that house the dreams of kings and queens. A book cares not of your status or the lack thereof. It just beckons you in to stay forever. ...more

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Dec 10, 2018 Sean Gibson rated it really liked it

So, it turns out that people in LA do more than drink kale smoothies, have inventive but wholly unnecessary plastic surgery (“I just had my appendix done and it looks FANTASTIC on an MRI!”), and be impossibly (albeit generically) attractive while waiting tables hoping for their big break. In addition to doing those things, they also go to the library.*

A while back, I wrote about libraries, the internet, and probably something scatological (knowing me), but the lens of that piece was very much my So, it turns out that people in LA do more than drink kale smoothies, have inventive but wholly unnecessary plastic surgery (“I just had my appendix done and it looks FANTASTIC on an MRI!”), and be impossibly (albeit generically) attractive while waiting tables hoping for their big break. In addition to doing those things, they also go to the library.*

A while back, I wrote about libraries, the internet, and probably something scatological (knowing me), but the lens of that piece was very much my own (white, suburban) experience—that is, I considered the concept of libraries as I’ve always known them: namely, repositories of books and quiet places in which to study and do research for scholastic purposes.

As Orlean details in this mostly engaging account of the fire that destroyed the Los Angeles public library in 1986, however, libraries are so much more, and never more so than now (somewhat ironically, given that book readership has flatlined at best). Libraries are on the front lines in trying to help the homeless (not only are they freely accessible portals to the internet, but they also provide training and access to social programs—and, perhaps above all else, they are simply a place to BE, one that is warm and safe and open and friendly), and they are often curators of important cultural and historical memorabilia. Those training and social programs are broadly available, however, and are hugely important to numerous other members of the general populace, including immigrants, the elderly, the disabled, and a host of others (not to mention overwhelmed parents who need a place to take their kids that doesn’t cost any money and at least provides the possibility of diverting them from destroying potted plants or pulling the wings off dragonflies for a brief period of time). And libraries are also apparently invaluable people who miss askjeeves.com and are too lazy to seek out basic informational tidbits on their phones, because it’s a little baffling how many people call libraries to find out random pieces of trivia.

In short, libraries, as they always have been, remain essential to the fabric of their communities, even if people don’t go there as much for the books anymore. It makes one wonder whether “library”—a word that conjures up images of imposing stacks of dense tomes, finger-wagging shush monsters, and yellowed card catalogs—is even the right term. Maybe we start calling them community engagement centers? Multimedia hubs? Nerd holes? I don’t know; I’m sure we can come up with something that more accurately describes what they do and what they’re for (note: on that latter point, “nerd holes” is probably a bad suggestion, because I’m not entirely sure I want to know what a nerd hole is for).

Up above, I called this a “mostly engaging” account; it flags at times, in part because it turns out that the primary suspect in the *spoiler alert* still unsolved fire may have just been a flighty attention seeker and the mystery surrounding the fire draws to an unsatisfying close (like a Ziploc baggie that just won’t seal right). Still, Orlean’s provides a really interesting look at the evolution of the library and its continued vitality as a civic institution despite, or perhaps because of, evolving technology.

*I’m totally kidding, Los Angelinos—I know you’re all actually witty and delightful book nerds with a taste for good Scotch and unaltered internal organs, even if you haven’t seen National Treasure, which is an almost unforgiveable offense against cultural literacy; but, sometimes you need to perpetuate a stereotype to make a point, you know? And you know you really do fret about how your appendix looks… ...more

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Mar 05, 2019 JanB rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-reads, buddy-read-with-marialyce-and-dana

The staggering loss and damage of hundreds of thousands of books is enough to pierce the heart of any book lover. LA’s Central Library went up in smoke and fire in April of 1986. This book is an accounting of the fire itself, and the massive volunteer effort to save the books and rebuild the library 3 years later. Books that were salvageable were moved to freezers to prevent mold. Unfrozen 2 years later, it was a complicated process to dry out and restore and rebind.

To this day the cause of the The staggering loss and damage of hundreds of thousands of books is enough to pierce the heart of any book lover. LA’s Central Library went up in smoke and fire in April of 1986. This book is an accounting of the fire itself, and the massive volunteer effort to save the books and rebuild the library 3 years later. Books that were salvageable were moved to freezers to prevent mold. Unfrozen 2 years later, it was a complicated process to dry out and restore and rebind.

To this day the cause of the fire is an unsolved mystery, although several theories are presented. There was a suspect, Harry Peak, an affable and charming pathological liar, but there was not enough evidence to charge him. His story makes this an even more compelling read.

But mostly this book is a love letter to libraries and the people who run them. The busy day in the life of a library is detailed, and we are introduced to a bevy of colorful City Librarians, both past and present.

I am most impressed with how libraries took themselves into the future of the internet age and expanded their programs to make them increasingly relevant to their communities. The future of libraries is seen as partnering with the internet, not competing with it.

The book is full of interesting tidbits and facts, such as Ray Bradbury’s connection to libraries and the writing of Fahrenheit 451, the science behind fire investigations, the changing role of employing women in libraries, the issue of libraries increasingly being used as havens for the homeless….and so much more.

Most fun fact: Cleveland, Ohio is the headquarters of OverDrive, the company that created the concept of e-book loans. When anyone in the world borrows a book or audio via OverDrive a small light appears on a large wall map showing where and what was borrowed. As someone who has a personal connection to Cleveland and borrows most of my e-books and audiobooks on OverDrive, this makes me ridiculously happy!

I read this with my book buddy, Marialyce. Both of us grew up within walking distance of a library and we had fun reminiscing about the many hours we both spent in libraries and the delicious feeling of walking out with an armload of books, a pleasure we both still enjoy to this day.

Bottom line: if you love books, reading, and libraries this is a must-read. ...more

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Nov 23, 2018 Melki rated it it was amazing

Shelves: true-crime, history, books-about-books, libraries-rock

. . . if she could have chosen any profession in the world, she would have been a librarian.

December 6, 2016 was one of the greatest days of my life. It was the day I started work in the children's department of my local library. To this day, I still get a thrill every time I walk in the building via that special "Employees Only" entrance. I think to myself, "I can't believe I work at The Library," and I consider myself very, very lucky.

I'm sure by now you know that Orlean's latest book is about ...more

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Jan 16, 2019 Carol added it

Shelves: non-fiction, true-crime, memoir-biography

The very best books are often the hardest to talk about. 96 of my GR friends reviewed The Library Book. There are 8000+ ratings and over 2000 reviews, with only 3% under 3 stars. Susan Orlean's latest, an ode to the love of libraries, has been favorably reviewed by the best, including Ron Charles for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Chris Woodyard for USA Today. Perhaps not as gushy were the industry reviews. Still, all in all, positive commentary. So what can I add to the love to en The very best books are often the hardest to talk about. 96 of my GR friends reviewed The Library Book. There are 8000+ ratings and over 2000 reviews, with only 3% under 3 stars. Susan Orlean's latest, an ode to the love of libraries, has been favorably reviewed by the best, including Ron Charles for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Chris Woodyard for USA Today. Perhaps not as gushy were the industry reviews. Still, all in all, positive commentary. So what can I add to the love to encourage you to read The Library Book? Is my recommendation enough?

The naysayers had many complaints, the worst of which in my opinion was that if you thought libraries were boring, this proves it.

The strongest appeal factors for me

Library employee (retired), supporter and card carrying bibliophile.
True Crime enthusiast.
Historical context to broaden my knowledge.
Encourage me to conduct my own research, a curiosity to know more.
Highlightable passages to savor and contemplate.
Narrative Non-fiction fan.

If any of the above make your checklist, then I'd say jump right in.

Let me leave you with just one paragraph, one that speaks to me as I pursue a new found interest in my ancestors and descendants, and think about my loved ones who have left me behind to face my own mortality.

Originally appeared as Growing Up In The Library – The New Yorker, October 5, 2018 and paraphrased for this book.

“The idea of being forgotten is terrifying. I fear not just that I, personally, will be forgotten but that we are all doomed to being forgotten—that the sum of life is ultimately nothing; that we experience joy and disappointment and aches and delights and loss, make our little mark on the world, and then we vanish, and the mark is erased, and it is as if we never existed. If you gaze into that bleakness even for a moment, the sum of life becomes null and void, because if nothing lasts nothing matters. It means that everything we experience unfolds without a pattern, and life is just a wild, random, baffling occurrence, a scattering of notes with no melody. But if something you learn or observe or imagine can be set down and saved, and if you can see your life reflected in previous lives, and can imagine it reflected in subsequent ones, you can begin to discover order and harmony. You know that you are a part of a larger story that has shape and purpose—a tangible, familiar past and a constantly refreshed future. We are all whispering in a tin can on a string, but we are heard, so we whisper the message into the next tin can and the next string. Writing a book, just like building a library, is an act of sheer defiance. It is a declaration that you believe in the persistence of memory.” ...more

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Jan 24, 2019 Carol (Bookaria) rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, top-2019, 2019, favorites

This is a wonderful book about libraries. If you're like me, and borrow almost ALL your books from the local library, then you will like enjoy the fascinating information in it.

Not only does the author describes its history, how they function, interesting facts and figures, but she also focuses on the events surrounding the devastating, large, and mysterious fire that destroyed many titles of the the L.A. Central Library on 1986.

There is a short section devoted to Overdrive, the digital distribu ...more

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Aug 03, 2019 Maxwell rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, i-own-it, botm, 2019

[4.5 stars] If you didn't admire libraries and the amount of work and passion it takes to run them before reading this, you will after. It's not only an examination of the terrible fire at the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986, but also an ode to the people who work and have worked there, the ones just passing through, and much, much more. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of this having not had great experiences with Orlean's previous work, but this one is in its own category, in my opinio ...more

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Feb 11, 2019 Jenna rated it really liked it

Shelves: history

"A library is as much a portal as it is a place—it is a transit point, a passage."

I guess I'm a bit of an outlier when it comes to this book. It was OK, but nothing remarkable for me. I hate to say that because so many recommended it to me, and I wish I could say I loved it. It wasn't all bad though, not by a long shot. I had actually never heard about the Los Angeles Public Library burning in 1986, was unaware of the tragedy of so many books and items lost in this fire. I am glad to have re ...more

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Nov 15, 2018 Bkwmlee rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley-books, favorites, nonfiction

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Have you ever come across a book that felt like it was meant for you to read and then afterwards occupies a permanent place in your heart due to the special connection you feel with it? Well, for me, Susan Orlean’s The Library Book was definitely THAT book (the reasons why will become more clear later on in this review).

I’ve had my nose in a book ever since I learned how to read at 5 or 6 years old (though my mom likes to tell people that I might have well been born wi

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Have you ever come across a book that felt like it was meant for you to read and then afterwards occupies a permanent place in your heart due to the special connection you feel with it? Well, for me, Susan Orlean’s The Library Book was definitely THAT book (the reasons why will become more clear later on in this review).

I’ve had my nose in a book ever since I learned how to read at 5 or 6 years old (though my mom likes to tell people that I might have well been born with a book in my hands, since I was always attracted to books even as an infant – my mom said whenever I cried, she would simply put a baby book in my crib and instantly I would stop crying, lol). One of the fondest memories of my childhood was the bi-weekly trip to the local library that my mom would take me on, where I would always check out a huge stack of books (I remember I would always exceed the limit of books that I was allowed to check out on my card so my mom would end up checking out a few of my books on her card), take them home and read them all in less than a week, then beg my mom to take me back to the library again before our regular “library day” so I could return that stack of books and check out new ones. My thirst for books and reading were insatiable back in those days and so of course, the library became my “candy shop” growing up – it was my “most favorite place on earth,” a place where I could literally spend the entire day browsing through endless shelves of books, looking at covers, reading summaries on the back and pretty much just delight in being surrounded by books at every turn. As I’m sure was the case with many people, when I reached my teenage years and later, adulthood, and started getting caught up in the never ending “busyness” of school and work, my relationship with the library changed. I still loved books of course (I don’t think it was a coincidence that I took practically every literature class that my schools had to offer and veered toward a liberal arts degree with a literature emphasis in college) – but I no longer had the time to go to the library and spend hours on end just “hanging out” there. Instead of being the place of wonder and excitement that it was in my childhood, the library became “the place I went for research” or, when I was in college, the place where I would go to work on a paper or a project if I happened to have some free time between classes. Over the years, as “time” became more and more of a scarcity for me (I’m constantly complaining that 24 hours in a day is not enough for me to finish everything I need/want to get done), the local bookstore(s) eventually replaced the library as my “go-to” source for books because with the limitations on my time, it was much easier for me to buy a book I needed for my classes way in advance and then just pick it up and start reading at the designated time without having to worry about a due date to return the book or even worse, the book not being available when I needed it. It wasn’t until the last 5 years or so that I got “reacquainted” with the library again through my nephew (whom I am proud to say inherited my love for books!) and realized how much I had missed over the years. In the first few chapters of the book, hearing the author recount her relationship with the library – the trips to the library with her mother as a child, growing apart from the library as an adult, getting reacquainted with the library after going there with her child, etc. -- it reminded me of my own journey, of the up-and-down relationship I’ve also had with libraries over the years.

The other reason this book resonated with me so much is because I’ve lived in Los Angeles practically my entire life and so basically “grew up” in the Los Angeles Public Library system – though ironically, despite the close proximity, I’ve actually never been to the Central Library in downtown LA (which is where most of the events in the book take place). Regardless though, it was fascinating to learn about the history of the LA library and how the entire system evolved into what it is today. Like the author, I too had no clue about the fire at Central Library back in 1986 (my love for reading obviously didn’t extend to newspapers back then, lol), but even so, I would’ve been too young anyway to understand exactly what was going on. As a history buff, I also enjoyed the historical background about the city of LA and California as a whole that the author incorporated into her narrative. I actually get really excited when I hear things (whether names or places) that I’m familiar with get mentioned in books, as it makes the reading experience that much more personal for me – in the case of this book, there were actually a few places mentioned where I have friends (or relatives) who live there currently, so it was fun to be able to talk them afterwards about the historical aspects of where they live.

In recounting the story of the Central Library fire, Orlean also gives us the story of Harry Peak – the man largely viewed as responsible for starting the fire but never charged due to lack of evidence. The “true crime” aspect of the story -- including the analysis of the various records as well as all the insights into investigation of past arson cases – was particularly well-done, with the evidence and facts presented in a way that made this as engrossing as reading a good suspense novel. With that said though, this book was so much more than just a chronicle of the Central Library fire or a history of the library’s evolution over the years – in many respects, this was also an ode to libraries and librarians everywhere as well as a testament to the critical role that libraries play in our society – not just locally or in our country, but all around the world.

My one small complaint was that the narrative jumped around a bit too much between the investigation, the historical timeline, and Orlean’s personal interactions with various “characters” she encounters, whether it was people involved with the original investigation or the librarians she talked with in the course of putting together the research for this book. There were a few times, for example, where the chapter that just finished was about a current interaction at the library but the next chapter was back to the investigation, which was last touched upon several chapters ago, so I had to go back and re-read those sections to refresh my memory on where it had left off. Overall though, this is a minor structural issue in the grand scheme of things of course.

Engaging, insightful, and well-written, this book is a wonderful tribute to not just libraries but also books and book lovers from all walks of life. Highly recommended and a must-read for bibliophiles everywhere!

Received ARC from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley
...more

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Feb 27, 2019 Emily rated it really liked it

I REALLY enjoyed this!!

A word of warning: this isn't really a true crime book. A lot of the marketing messaging around this sells it as true crime about the arson case surrounding the Los Angeles library fire. If you go into this expecting true crime, you're going to be disappointed.

Okay, that said: I loved this.

The book focuses on two questions raised by the LA library fire: why does it matter that a library burned down? Why does it matter that this library burned down. The book reads as 40 pe ...more

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Aug 23, 2019 Jonetta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, 2019-library-love-challenge, audiobook, nc-br-digital-library, 2019-beat-the-backlist-challenge, 2019-audiobook-challenge, 2019-in-2019, audio-2500, 5000-2019, history

On April 29, 1986, the Los Angeles Central Public Library caught fire and burned for over seven hours. By the time the fire was extinguished, over 400,000 books were destroyed and almost double that number were damaged. This book explores that event but also lays tribute to the history of that library (and others!) and the author’s personal memories of her early library experiences, along with the investigation of what caused the fire. It was thought to be arson and the primary suspect was a man On April 29, 1986, the Los Angeles Central Public Library caught fire and burned for over seven hours. By the time the fire was extinguished, over 400,000 books were destroyed and almost double that number were damaged. This book explores that event but also lays tribute to the history of that library (and others!) and the author’s personal memories of her early library experiences, along with the investigation of what caused the fire. It was thought to be arson and the primary suspect was a man named Harry Peak, an unemployed actor.

I’d never heard about this fire (the author posits as to why I not), the largest and worst library fire ever, so naturally I was intrigued by that factoid alone. What I loved about this book was the overwhelming wealth of information about the past librarians, and history of the Central Library; other notable library histories globally and connections to world events; and the evolution of fire investigation and how it related to this event. In a word, it was all fascinating. Each librarian left an indelible imprint on the library, their contribution to a vibrant institution.

While the transitions between the topics were often awkward, I enjoyed that there were shifts as it kept things interesting. The weaving of personal stories, colorful librarian histories and the community connections made this something special.

I listened to the book, narrated by the author, and though I liked it, I believe I would have loved the book more if I’d read it, giving me a better opportunity to more slowly digest these stories and facts. Orlean did a good job in her reading and I’m not certain a professional narrator would have changed the experience. It’s a lot of wonderful information that I found enlightening but difficult to accept how little I knew about our libraries and the issues they have always faced.

If you love books and have any kind of connection to libraries, physical or digital, you really must read this book. It evokes a strong reaction as your personal memories and attachments will also arise and consume you. You’ll have to form your own conclusion, though, regarding whether or not Harry Peak set that library on fire.

By the way, I borrowed this from my digital library🥰 ...more

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Jun 12, 2020 Beverly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Mostly about the tragic 1986 fire of the main branch of the Los Angeles library, The Library Book is chock full of timely information about the daily life of a busy, bustling library. Susan Orlean brings her usual, masterly and laser focus to the subject. Her personal stories about how she and her mother used to enjoy trips to their local library are very sweet too.

Libraries are special places, especially for book lovers. When I was a nerdy kid living in rural Kentucky, we had no money for buyi ...more

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Oct 11, 2018 Ron Charles rated it really liked it

The largest library disaster in American history is the furnace at the center of Orlean’s story, which is fueled by regular additions of memoir, biography, history and science. In one particularly sobering chapter, she reminds us, “People have been burning libraries for nearly as long as they’ve been building libraries.” The number of books deliberately consigned to the flames is in the billions. “I sometimes find it hard to believe there are any books left in the world.”

But amid such gloom is m ...more

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About Susan Orlean

Susan Orlean

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I'm the product of a happy and uneventful childhood in the suburbs of Cleveland, followed by a happy and pretty eventful four years as a student at University of Michigan. From there, I wandered to the West Coast, landing in Portland, Oregon, where I managed (somehow) to get a job as a writer. This had been my dream, of course, but I had no experience and no credentials. What I did have, in spades ...more

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Quotes from The Library Book

“In Senegal, the polite expression for saying someone died is to say his or her library has burned. When I first heard the phrase, I didn’t understand it, but over time I came to realize it was perfect. Our minds and souls contain volumes inscribed by our experiences and emotions; each individual’s consciousness is a collection of memories we’ve cataloged and stored inside us, a private library of a life lived.” — 98 likes

“The library is a gathering pool of narratives and of the people who come to find them. It is where we can glimpse immortality; in the library, we can live forever.” — 87 likes

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