What’s Too Hot to Handle?

The horror of books ablaze in a library. That’s what!

Susan Orleans’ The Library Book (2018) is a portmanteau of story, true crime, and riveting journalism

Before the Great Fire of April 1986, the Central Library of Los Angeles looked “like a building a child might assemble out of blocks,” its first architect, Bertram Goodhue of New York.

Loss in the Fire In the Los Angeles library. Over a million books were lost and 700,000 badly damaged; two people were injured. “The biggest library fire in American history had been upstaged by the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown.” (16)   Few people, including author Susan Orlean, knew about the fire when it happened.

Crime and Cause of Fire “Investigators believe the majority of library fires are deliberately set.”  (106)

Prime suspect in LA library fire: Harry Peak

Harry’s guilt was never proved conclusively though he did fail the lie-detector test. He spent some time in jail as a suspect.

“An arsonist has a ninety-nine percent likelihood of getting away with the crime.” (167)

Recovery from Loss The J. Paul Getty Foundation contributed two million dollars. School kids held bottle and aluminum drives to replace books, garnering tidy sums. Funds came from all over the world.

How Books were Salvaged: “After two years of being frozen, the books were ready to be thawed, dried, fumigated, sorted, cleaned, and repaired.” (261)  McDonnell-Douglas, the aerospace manufacturing company, helped with the tedious process.

Sensational Stories about the LA Library, from Susan Orlean’s Pen

• In the early 1900s, librarian Mary Jones refused to give up her job to a man hired to replace her, the swashbuckling Charles Lummis. A Library War ensued. This Book details a lurid conclusion.

• Glen Creason, librarian: Author Orlean, who spent several months interviewing him, devotes a whole chapter to Mr. Creason, the map librarian in the History & Genealogy department^[1] at the L. A. Central Library, from 1979-2021. He had, she says, “a scramble of blondish-white hair with unruly bangs, a scrubby beard, and a body like an exclamation point.”  (158)

According to Orlean, Glen Creason gave  colorful nicknames to some of the patrons in the history/map department: Rubber Man, Stopwatch Man and General Hershey Bar. (158)

• In 1966, the coffeemakers that librarians used . . . were banned from Central Library. The wattage used by coffee-makers . . . was simply too much for the library’s weak wiring.”   (211)

• In 1973, the library added a service called the Hoot Owl Telephonic Reference, which connected you to a librarian who could find the answer to almost any question. Dial H-O-O-T-O-W-L!

• Frightening Find! Aguirre, Head of Security at library found a dead man in the religion and philosophy section: “He looked like he didn’t have a dime in the world, but when we patted him down, we found twenty thousand dollars in cash in a piece of folded paper in his pocket.” (243)

How Books get Placed on Library Shelves  Every month, more than 700 new books arrive at the LA library. “They are then offloaded, unboxed, stamped, sticker-ed, linked to the electronic catalog system, snugged in a Mylar cover, bar-coded, and, finally, let loose on the shelves.” (85)

Stolen books as Business  “In 1981 investigators discovered a woman earning $40,000 per year selling “used” books filched from the LA library, selling from her home in Beverly Hills. (86)

Irony in Early Library History Even though women were not allowed to have library cards, the LA Library hired librarian Mary Foy, who knew the material so well, she could find anything on the shelves in a matter of minutes. (Initially, children could not have library cards either.)

Susan with animal friends

How the Young Susan Orlean Fell in Love with Books

Author’s love affair with books began with her memory of the fresh smell and feel of new books:

• “I loved the fresh alkaline tang of new ink and paper.”
• “I loved the crack of a newly flexed spine, and the way the brand-new pages almost felt damp, as they were wet with creation.”

Watch a YouTube Interview with author Susan Orlean

When I was growing up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I knew of two suspicious barn fires.  The barns of my father’s cousin, Phares Longenecker, junior, burned down—twice! Folks regarded Farmer Phares as a righteous and thrifty man. His barnyard, immaculate and free of fire hazards. People were stunned; arson was suspected. In fact, someone claimed to see a shadowy figure escaping into the fields after the fire started, but evidence was vague. No one was prosecuted.

YET, as soon as the fires were extinguished, Amish and Mennonite farmers from far and wide descended on the property to rebuild Phares’ barn—twice. Women in the community supplied food to fuel the workers. What an example of brotherly love in action!

Unsplash image – A community pitches in at a barn-raising

Here’s where you can share your own library memories.

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A story about barn-raising?

Click on this link to find another story about Susan’s book.