“In Senegal, the polite expression for saying someone died is to say his or her library has burned.”–Susan Orlean, The Library Book
On the morning of April 28, 1986, the fire alarm at the Los Angeles Public Library started to wail. Library workers were not concerned since the fire alarm went off often and it was always a false alarm. This time was different. The fire that began in the library that morning burned for seven hours and reached a temperature of 2,000 degrees. When the fire was extinguished and the damage assessed, over 400,000 books were destroyed and 700,00 more were damaged. The fire investigators declared the fire was caused by arson and thus began a mystery which has yet to be solved nearly forty years later.
This book is for anyone who love books and libraries. While Orlean tells the story of the fire, she also shares the history of the Los Angeles Public Library and the importance of libraries to our communities. I have always loved libraries but this book made me realize there are a lot of library resources I didn’t know about and I wish I would have–especially when my children were younger. As libraries are increasingly criticized and under attack, this book is a good reminder of the unique and irreplaceable role they have in our civilization.
Content Advisory: Some language