The Library Book

Book: The Library Book
Basic Information : Synopsis : Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes : References

Basic Information:

Author: Susan Orlean

Edition: epub on Overdrive from the Fresno County Library

Publisher: Simon Schuster

ISBN: 1476740186 (ISBN13: 9781476740188)

Start Date: January 23, 2019

Read Date: January 31, 2019

318 pages

Genre: History, Biography

Language Warning: Low

Rated Overall: 3 out of 5

History: 4 out of 5

Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):

There are several stories told throughout this book:

• The fire which gutted the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library
• The hunt for the arsonist who lit the fire.
• The person suspected of setting the fire
• The history of the Los Angeles Public Library
• Susan Orlean’ relationship with books.

Expectations:

Recommendation: None

When: January 23, 2019

Date Became Aware of Book: January 23, 2019

How come do I want to read this book: Saw it on a list of books on Overdrive. Sounded interesting. I am a sucker for a book about books.

Thoughts:

What are the books at the start of each chapter for? How do they relate to the content of each chapter? I am thinking they are books she used as references in each chapter. But there does not seem to be too much of a consensus on this. In an interview, Orlean talks about each chapter is like a section in a library. This may give a little bit of a clue

One

Orlean sets the scene for the morning of the Los Angeles Central Public Library fire. Then takes you back to her childhood where she recounts her Mom taking her to the Bertam Woods branch of her library back east. As she gets older, she gets in the habit of buying books rather than checking them out. But her son’s class project returns her back to the library.

Interesting take on book ownership. She contrasts her parents as borrow-a-book-from-the-library people vs what I think is more herself as bookshelves-full-of-books. I definitely am the latter. But I do a lot of the former. Her parents thought that you read a book for the experience of reading it. I can understand that. Even though recently I read an article which talked about that having unread books is a constant reminder of the amount of knowledge you do not possess.

I like this statement: 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. I also feel like there is the summation of human knowledge, maybe of humanity itself in a library. But her statement seems a bit overblown. Orlean has a rather high view of what libraries are capable of doing.

Two

One of the questions which Orlean asks herself is what libraries were for? In some ways, she answers this question throughout the book. The modern library not only deals in books, but is a place where social services are given. It is a treasure house of human information and knowledge.

In describing the fire, Orlean goes into a somewhat romantic view of how the fire progresses. She pictures it almost like it has a mind and a direction, rather than governed by physics. In her descriptions she describes the 451 degrees. While not directly, it does bring to mind Ray Bradbury.

Three

The main suspect is an actor named Harry Peak. In reality, he did not do much professional acting, if any. But he seemed to be more acting out his life. He went from one job to the next. He was also a homosexual and lived with a guy until his partner could no longer stand his lying. Peak was also a teller of improbable stories, such as being friends with Burt Reynolds or eating lunch with Cher.

The main suspect, Harry Peak was noted as blundering but generally reliable. How can this be?

Five

Orlean talks about burning a book. There is the how too, but also the inner feelings of the burning. She talks about that a book is almost a living thing with a life. Hard, if impossible to throw one away. Once she convinced herself to burn a book, which one? One she hated-too aggressive; she loved-never! The solution was that her husband gave her Fahrenheit 451 which seemed to be perfect for the job. A sense of elation occurred, that may be the wrong word.

There is a bit of a question mark in my mind. She describes the burning as near instantaneous occurrence. But when I have burnt a thick stack of papers, the paper at the fringes will go up easy enough, but the middle will not burn. Wonder how she did it?

Six

Describes various components of the library system: packing and shipping of books, the abandonment of a library building and what to do about it, community center. It is a place where homeless people can do things like check email, use the bathroom, get out of the rain or sun. They also cater to their communities.

You read and read and read and read … and then what? Quoted from Barbara Davis in the shipping department. A very good question. But then why do anything if that is the end of things? Read for enjoyment, read for development, read to help others.

Seven

The aftermath of the fire. The librarians took this disaster personally. One said that it was the worst day of his life-even more so than the day his Dad dies.

Eight

Sometimes it's harder to notice a place you think you know well… so true. The city you live in can be the most unexplored city you visit. I live close to Yosemite. Even in a spectacular place like that it is easy to look around and say we have seen it all before.

Writing: like a slow-motion wrestling match. A pretty vivid description.

Orlean mom had dementia, but was momentarily delighted by hearing the subject matter of this book.

Memory is like a library. It keeps a repository of our lives. A library both enriches and keeps the story of our lives. Orlean notes that in Senegal when a person dies. It is called that their library has burned. Makes sense. That library is who we are.

Nine

Libraries are usually burned because they contain ideas that someone finds problematic.

Who is Diego de Landa? a Spanish bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán.[1] Many historians criticize his campaign against idolatry. In particular, he burned almost all the Mayan manuscripts (codices) that would have been very useful in deciphering Mayan script, knowledge of Maya religion and civilization, and the history of the American continent. From Wikipedia.

Orwell said that book burning was the most characteristic [Nazi] activity.

Books of questionable moral taste used to be stored in a cage with restricted access. a high school worker figured out how to get in and read the entire set of books. It makes you wonder if you can ever withhold knowledge. The wiser course is to develop the capacity to understand and wisdom to discern. But do we really have the maturity to understand? This is not a function of age.

Destroying a library is a kind of terrorism. People think of libraries as the safest and most open places in society. Setting them on fire is like announcing that nothing, and nowhere is safe.

Books are a sort of cultural DNA, the code for who, as a society we are, and what we know.

Orlean tells the story of John Leonard Orr, an LA fire captain. he wrote a book describing arson fires. turns out he was also an arsonist. I can understand a little bit of the thrill of a fire, but not to the point of setting my own fires.

Ten

blog-The World Strangest Librarian. I did not find this blog, but I did find another blog called Very Unusual Librarians.

One librarian says he is never sure that he should look at what people check out. He did not know that there were books with those kinds of titles.

Eleven

Orlean described the fund raising efforts to rebuild the library. Donations from the common people talking about what the library meant to then to the notables giving valuable resources to help fill the new library.

When influential leaders speak of a topic or a book, there is a rush to get that book. One of them was Gene Scott. He was part of the Save the Books campaign, including MC’ing a very productive telethon.

Twelve

A woman by the name of Mary Jones was an early librarian. She was fired for sexist reasons. It was felt that this job was better held by a man. This battle continued on into the next chapter.

Melvil Dewey was the creator of the Dewey Decimal System

Thirteen

Lummis who later became the head librarian was sort of a vagabond. One of his places, and where he finally settled down was close to Pasadena, in an area where my daughter used to live. He established the Southwest Museum there as well. This museum is still in existence.

Mary Jones still resisted resigning her post-did not yield to having Lummis take over her position. The mayor got an opinion that Jones served as an “at-will” employee and the mayor could remove her.

When Lummis came in, he made changes. He branded books which he felt had dubious value. He then branded books as the property of the Los Angeles Library. Patrons complained, But he stated that cows were branded and books were more important than cows.

Lummis annual reports were legendary. They became must reads

Chapter 14

Los Angeles Library has a wonderful collection of maps. The librarian in charge of maps still can experience wonder when he gets a copy of the 1932 Olympics map.

Chapter 15

What do you look for when you are trying to find an arsonist. Harry Peck did not look like an arsonist, but was in the location.

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Althea Warren’s goal was to get books into the hands of the public anyway she could.

Chapter 19

Sometimes the quotes are not checked out as thoroughly as they should be. Such as All true living is face to face. Albert Schweitzer I can only find this in a blog which quotes this.

Chapter 20

Some murals were pretty dirty and covered with grime. Which on the surface you go, yuck! But when the fire hit, the grime protected the mural from damage. Is this a lesson? Do not get too fastidious in my washing?

This is a place where Orlean prose does their work well. She is describing the deterioration of both the downtown section of Los Angeles as well as the downtown library. The library would be better off being torn down, rebuilt in a different location with twice as much room. Orlean describes the situation:

One of the many optimistic convictions punctured by the riots [Watts in 1965] was the belief that books were good and true--that on the shelves of libraries, you could find all the answers to all the questions. Life not seemed juddering and inexplicable, beyond the reach of what we could ever know or understand. Gray paint covering a mahogany library wall is not the existential equivalent of the Manson murder or the miseries in a neighborhood like Watts, but they seemed to inhabit the same sour space of things falling apart.

She notes that historical or beautiful buildings are not valued as much as valuable land and its potential.

Interesting the kinds of questions reference librarians get-was Della Street of Perry Mason fame named after a real street?

Chapter 21

The chief suspect, Harry Peck, in the library fire was a spinner of fables/lies. But he did this even when there was no need. Also his story would change-no just versions, but the whole story.

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Well of the Scribes-a garden area dedicated with status to writers

Chapter 24

Orlean makes the point that the library is a public place. Consequently every problem which you see in a location, the library which serves the area will also have it., It is a favorite place for homeless people. For the most part they are unkept, but do not present a problem. Also because a library has a smaller space, it is more communal and harder to avoid any problems. This can be a bad or good thing. If you are not prepared, there is a tendency to be repulsed by them. On the other hand, it is a safe place to be in contact with the problems of the community and create a better understanding.

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

A checklist of items to go through after a book has gotten wet.

A new, large wing was added. Passing from the old to the new made one feel like they were going through an eccentric playhouse and then tumbling over a waterfall.

Chapter 28

The Los Angeles library has an eccentric collection of materials. Such as a collection of restaurant menus, also costumes and props, bookplates, fruit crate labels, and movie posters to name a few.

Orlean likes to think that the library is more expansive and grand than a single mind, …

Chapter 29

Orlean cites an article by David Grann about how fires are investigated. Grann is one of the authors I have read. It points to the assumptions made by fire investigators and how not looking at collaborating evidence can lead the investigator astray.

Chapter 30

References Little Libraries as part of a movement to get books into the community. This follows bookmobiles, and book bikes and private lending libraries. She describes the Little Libraries as being run by any individual who is willing to put one of the cabinets in her front yard and fill it with giveaway books. We have a Little Library in front of our house.

Talks about the part which Bill and Melinda Gates have played in expanding library presence both in the United States and around the world.

Then Orlean talks about Overdrive. This is where I am reading the book. She iterates the story about how they changed their business model from distributing disks to doing eloans of books. This was done at the same time as when libraries were gaining an understanding that this was a wave of the future. The head of Overdrive is a very personable person. In Overdrive’s headquarters there is a giant screen with a map showing when and were a title is checked out.

But Orlean makes a profound statement that OverDrive may be the future of book lending, but that’s not the same thing as the future of libraries. Libraries are physical spaces belonging to a community where we gather to share information. So how does a library stay relevant? I think Orlean is saying that a library’s function is more than just being storage for books. It is also a place to be and exchange ideas.

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

The author goes back and forth about who started the fire. There is no compelling story. Only stories with holes in them.

Evaluation:

An interesting read if you are a person who is interested in libraries. While the big draw is describing the fire in 1986 which consumed the Los Angeles Central Public Library, she draws you in with her personal relationship with libraries, the progression of head librarians in Los Angeles, and who set the 1986 fire.

In a lot of ways, the variety of library related story lines is the weakness of this book. Each is interesting in its own right, but put together, the book seemed to lack focus. She talks about the fire for a little ways, then ignores it and talks about librarians. Then who set the fire? Then onto her interests in libraries. While she does a good job of sorting things out, you are left wondering when will she get back to the fire.

There is at least one thing I got out of this book: the need to visit the Los Angeles Central Public Library, and possibility acquire a library card from there. (Maybe even visit other libraries all over the country.)

 
Notes from my book group:

Many of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.

• Why the title of The Library Book?
• How des this story work?
• Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?
• Which character was the most convincing? Least?
  • Which character did you identify with?
  • Which one did you dislike?
• Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
• Why do you think the author wrote this book?
• What would you ask the author if you had a chance?
• What “take aways” did you have from this book?
• What central ideas does the author present?
• Are there solutions which the author presents?
  • Do they seem workable? Practicable?
  • How would you implement them?
• Describe the culture talked about in the book.
  • How is the culture described in this book different than where we live?
  • What economic or political situations are described?
  • Does the author examine economics and politics, family traditions, the arts, religious beliefs, language or food?
• Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
  • What was memorable?

From Simon and Schuester’s web site

This reading group guide for The Library Book includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Susan Orlean. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

Introduction

Susan Orlean, one of our most esteemed journalists and authors, turns her keen powers of observation and narrative gifts to the overlooked, underreported saga of the 1986 fire that ravaged the Los Angeles Public Library. Part detective story, part history, The Library Book serves as a meditation on and an ode to libraries, librarians, and their role in our communities.

“You can still smell the smoke in some them,” says Ken Brecher, head of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, to launch Orlean headlong into her investigation on the unsolved mystery of the conflagration that destroyed or damaged more than one million books, articles, and resource materials. At the center of the 1987 fire is Harry Peak, a charming aspiring actor, who is accused of arson but never charged. As Orlean charts the life and career of Peak, we see that there is just as much evidence to convict him as there is to exonerate him.

The larger narrative of The Library Book is its chronicle of the Los Angeles Public Library, a history that’s easily extrapolated to libraries nationwide. The library’s role in the community is directly reflective of the city’s growth from western outpost to boomtown to modern metropolis. It’s a history not without its controversies, ranging from the discrimination faced by library pioneer Mary Jones to the eccentricities of library head Charles Lummis to the ongoing debates over such matters as public funding and homelessness.

Readers and book lovers also get an intimate journal of the day-to-day lives of librarians, a rare look into the unsung and sometimes thankless world of these public servants. The days of simply cataloging books is long gone for librarians, whose roles now encompass everything from information technology to the homelessness crisis. Orlean brings the librarians of the LAPL to life, dutifully showing that the library, or any library, is a shared, inclusive community space that can be whatever its patrons need it be.

For Discussion

1. What has your relationship with libraries been throughout your life? Can you share some library memories from childhood to adulthood?

2. Were you at all familiar with the Los Angeles library fire? Or any library fire?

3. How would you describe the fire’s impact on the community? How about the community’s rebuilding efforts?

4. In chapter 5, Orlean writes that books “take on a kind of human vitality.” What role do books play in your life and home, and do you anthropomorphize them? Have you ever wrestled with the idea of giving books away or otherwise disowning them?

5. What is your impression of John Szabo? How does his career inform and shape your understanding of what librarians do?

6. Libraries today are more than just a building filled with books. How has your local branch evolved? Are you able to chart these changes and gauge their success within the community?

7. The Library Book confronts the issue of street people patronizing the library. Is this an issue in your hometown? How do you feel about the L.A. library’s involvement, handling of the issue, and the notion of inclusion?

8. Andrew Carnegie is perhaps the most famous supporter and benefactor of libraries. Can you name a modern equivalent who is using his or her largesse to underwrite public works? Is it more important for the public sector to have big benefactors or overall community support?

9. What was your initial impression of Harry Peak? Did it change throughout the investigation?

10. What was your reaction to the Mary Jones and Charles Lummis saga? Can you cite any similar examples from history or the present?

11. Each of the head librarians discussed in The Library Book brought certain qualities to the position. What ideas and initiatives did you like? Did you disagree with any?

12. The Library Book chronicles the history of the Los Angeles Public Library from its origins to the present day. How were the library’s ups and downs reflective of the city’s ups and down? Are libraries a fair barometer to judge the mood of a city or town?

13. Chapter 30 discusses a range of initiatives undertaken by international libraries and librarians. Do you have a favorite example that you would like to see replicated at your local library?

Enhance Your Book Club

1. Schedule a time for your group to visit a local library and meet with the staff to discuss the book, the role of librarians, and how the community can stay engaged.

2. Each chapter begins with some thematically-linked books. Have each group member pick a chapter, read or research the books in the chapter openers, and then briefly present how those books relate to chapter.

3. Have each member present an idea for the local library’s programming. Narrow the list to one or two of the best ideas and formally present it to your library head with an action plan for implementation.

New Words:

• Stoichiometric condition(Two): condition at which the proportion of the air-to-fuel is such that all combustible products will be completely burned with no oxygen remaining in the combustion air.
• Fabulist (21): a person who composes or relates fables

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• How to Make Money
• Honey Bees
• La Chanson des gueyx by Jean Richepin
• Rebecca of Sunnyside Farms by Kate Wiggins
• A Bronco Pegasus by Charles Fletcher Lummis
• Flowers of Our Lost Romance by Charles Fletcher Lummis
• Letters from the Southwest, September 20, 1884 to March 14, 1885 by Charles Fletcher Lummis
• Birch Bark Poems by Charles Fletcher Lummis
• The Vital Records of Franklin Maine
• Wasa-Wasa
• You Gentiles
• I am a Woman and a Jew
• Twenty Years on Broadway
• Layoff and Its Prevention
• What’s wrong with Unemployment Insurance?
• Responsible Drinking
• Capitalism Doomed?
• Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

Good Quotes:

• First Line: Even in Los Angeles, where there is no shortage or remarkable hairdos, Harry Peak attracted attention.
• Last Line: In the checkout line, a heavyset man with three books under his arm began a jiggling hipwagging dance, and people stepped around him carefully on their way out the door.
• 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. Chp One
• You read and read and read and read … and then what? Quoted from Barbara Davis in Chp Six
• There where one burns books, one in the end burns men. Heinrich Heine,
• Destroying a library is a kind of terrorism. People think of libraries as the safest and most open places in society. Setting them on fire is like announcing that nothing, and nowhere is safe. Chp Nine
• Books are a sort of cultural DNA, the code for who, as a society we are, and what we know. Chp Nine
• Love of the beautiful illuminates the world. Plato Phaedrus
• Books invite all; the constraint none. Hartley Burr Alexander as inscribed on the tunnel entrance of the Los Angeles Public Library
• Books can not be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. Franklin Roosevelt on a war poster
• The silence was more soothing than solemn. A library is a good place to soften solitude; a place where you feel part of a conversation that has gone on for hundreds and hundreds of years, even when you’re all alone. The library is a whispering post. Chp 32

References:

• Publisher's Web Site for Book
• Author's Web Site
• Amazon-Book
• Amazon-Author
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
• New York Times Review
• Washington Post review
• NPR Review
• USA Today review
• Book Riot blog
• National Book Review
• The Nation’s review
• LA Times review, and book club