Ward-Sell, Krista

Orlean, S. (2018). The Library Book. New York: Simon and Schuster.

The Library Book is an extraordinary book which is by turns a history, a crime novel, a biography, and a story of the phoenix-like resilience of an unusual lead character, the Los Angeles Public Library. 

Orlean uses the story of the most destructive library fire in the history of the United States as the start of a larger conversation with the reader of just what a librarian does for a collection. In between the biography of the library are chapters on Orlean’s time with the Librarians of the LAPL, sketches of their projects, their jobs, their passions. One sparkling addition are the chapters on the map collection, one of the most comprehensive in the United States, bolstered by the passing of a colorful hoarder, and a diligent and very lucky Librarian who rescued the collection from obscurity. Many other chapters touch on different aspects of the library’s services, programs and collections. 

Orlean also provides fascinating glimpses into the many small collection specialties in the Library today. Historic Photos in the Digitization Department, all the written works of the previous Head Librarian Charles Lummis. Every chapter is headed by catalog entries of random documents. 

Chapters also cover the fire itself, of the recovery process, the grief of the Librarians who had to come in to work to clean up after seeing their efforts burnt, the heroic story of the coming together of an entire city, from the brave firefighters who fought in horrible conditions,  cleanup volunteers, and fishmongers who froze wet books for preservation. Original interviews with all the participants that could be found alive document the horror of the day as well as the painful recovery. 

Susan Orlean, is also the author of The Orchid Thief, which in turn is the “source material” for the movie Adaptation (a fabulous excoriation of process by which a screenwriter butchers source material for Hollywood screenplays). She is a writer of great talent, which makes this book a joy to read. Orlean touches on every relevant issue in Library Science today, from homeless outreach to the history of the library’s ongoing technological innovation. 

From the perspective of Collection development, the chief lessons learned were first that anything can be of interest to the public, even ephemera. Second, that when the library has been identified by the city as a potential fire hazard, and there are no sprinklers, it’s best to move quickly to acquire them, even in a historic building. Orlean details a heartbreaking account of what was lost.  Protection and proactive action are also a part of collection development.

 In my humble opinion, dear reader, this is the book you should read over the winter break.