On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, patrons and staff outside 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, reaching 2000 degrees and burning for more than seven hours. It consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. More than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully ...
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On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, patrons and staff outside 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, reaching 2000 degrees and burning for more than seven hours. It consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. More than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library -- and if so, who? Susan 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.
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Add this copy of The Library Book to cart. $6.00, very good condition, Sold by Academic Book Solutions rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Medford, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2019 by Large Print Press.
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I am a retired librarian. I took my Masters in Library Science at the University of Southern California in 1971, back when U. S. C. offered such a degree. After that I worked at a variety of library situations, public, private, medical, military, etc., in D. C., San Francisco, L. A. and elsewhere around the world. I spent two years developing school libraries in Malaysia with the Peace Corps and have worked in Army libraries in Panama, Europe and Korea. But my first library job, not counting the student library clerk gig at junior college in Compton, California, was at the Central Library Children's Room of L. A. P. L. This was some 15 years before the fire. I was working in Texas then and would have dearly loved to have taken part in the salvage efforts. My memories of L. A. P. L. were mixed, of course, good and bad, as always is the case of any workplace as complicated as a library. By attempting to take on the task of writing about the history of the L. A. library system Ms. Orlean has tried to lift too great a load. This book could never be anything other than cursory. She has made an error or two and no matter how much love she may have for her topic, she will always be an outsider. Despite its failings, this book is a highly enjoyable read and does actually give the outsider a unique insight into a world that is, despite being an integral part of a community, always regarded by the public as separate, almost eerie.
