Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A.Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as 'The Human Encyclopedia' who roamed the library dispensing information 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.Lastly, Orlean reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.Īlong the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present. In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives-delving 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.įurthermore, Orlean brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting, she studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself, and she reflects on her own experiences in libraries. 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.

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?

By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. As one fireman recounted, 'Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’' On the morning of April 28, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library.Īs the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm.

The library book by orlean