The Library Book
By Susan Orlean
A dive into library history -- way more exciting than it sounds, I promise. This book provides a portrait of LA culture as well as the story behind the prime suspect for the largest library fire in US history. Part history, part mystery, part love letter to libraries.
There's immense deference to librarians and libraries and books and all the roles they play in our society (not just book depository but also a place to seek refuge, get help with taxes or immigration paperwork, human-Google, check out music scores or a laptop, research geneology, exchange war bonds, the list goes on). Really interesting to see how the role of the library has changed over the decades too, but always remains a critical third place in any community. We must continually invest in these institutions - these houses of information, and they must continually evolve to meet the needs of society.
Tags:
fire history books true crime336 pages
Published Sep 30, 2019 by Simon & Schuster
History - United States - State & Local - West
History - United States - 20th Century
Language Arts & Disciplines - Library & Information Science - General
History - Social History