review of the library book by susan orlean

Bibliophile-true-crime this is not.) The book does its best work when it balances the lofty philosophical mission of public libraries with the realities of running such a space. (Although, fair warning–the publisher’s blurb and many summaries suggest that the book is mostly about the fire, but I would describe it more as a framing device, with the Los Angeles Public Library and its history as the primary topic of the book. The Library Book tracks the history of libraries in America by focusing on Los Angeles’ Central Library, specifically by investigating the still-unsolved 1986 arson that destroyed much of the building and its books. The commitment to inclusion is so powerful that many decisions about the library hinge on whether or not a particular choice would cause a subset of the public to feel uninvited.” The radical nature of libraries can go unnoticed because libraries are so interwoven into civic life, as Orleans book documents. It becomes harder all the time to think of places that welcome everyone and don’t charge any money for that warm embrace. And it’s true, as Susan Orleans writes in The Library Book: “The publicness of the public library is an increasingly rare commodity.

There’s a tweet that has circulated for a few years (apologies for not attributing it) that essentially states that, were libraries invented today, they would be labeled a communist plot. in telling the story of this one library, Orlean reminds readers of the spirit of them all, their mission to welcome and equalize and inform, the wonderful depths and potential that they-and maybe all of us, as well-contain.It’s not terribly novel to argue that libraries, far from being fading relics of the print age, are more important than ever as free, welcoming community and information centers.

Orlean’s lapidary skills include both unearthing the data and carving a storyline out of the sprawl, piling up such copious and relevant details that I wondered how many mountains of research she discarded for each page of jewels. In other hands the book would have been a notebook dump, packed with random facts that weren’t germane but felt too hard-won or remarkable to omit. Unexpectedly engaging sections are tied to architects and landscaping and budgets, plus the overwhelming modern challenges of homelessness and mental illness. As Orlean delves into Central Library’s history, she re-animates the lively characters who once dominated the scene. Bibliophiles will feel deeply understood from the start, when Orlean talks about bringing her young son to a branch library in Los Angeles, just as her own mother had taken her to one in the Cleveland suburbs.

Review of the library book by susan orlean