The same kind of bewilderment swept over me while reading THE LIBRARY BOOK that I experienced when I watched the play Come From Away and the documentary MAIDEN: how did I not know about this!
Back in April 28, 1986, a fire in the Los Angeles Public Library destroyed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 books. Was the fire an accident…or was it arson? That’s the mystery Susan Orleans investigates in her brilliantly researched THE LIBRARY BOOK. Orleans starts by explaining why most people don’t know about (or remember) the Los Angeles Public Library fire (because an even bigger catastrophe occurred at the same time). Along the way, Orleans presents the history of the Los Angeles Public Library and the quirky people who ran it. My favorite is Mary Foy, the 18-year-old, who was named head of the Library in 1880 at a time when men dominated the library field.
THE LIBRARY BOOK blends history, true crime, a love of reading and books into a compelling chronicle. Highly recommended! How do you use your local public Library? GRADE: A