7/10/2019, 6:30-8pm

Join us for our eighteenth reading and meeting of the LAAC Book Club--where LA-area archivists and friends read and discuss publications exploring all matters archives, or in this case, libraries.

The group will meet on Wednesday, July 10, 2019, from 6:30-8 pm at Alcove Cafe (1929 Hillhurst Ave, Los Angeles 90027). Participants to the Book Club will be capped at 12. Please email hello@laacollective.org to reserve a spot.

This time we delve into local history with The Library Book by Susan Orlean.

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. Raging through the stacks, the fire reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. It was the largest library fire in the history of the United States: it destroyed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more, and shut the library down for seven years. The mystery remains: did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

Orlean’s The Library Book is an encyclopedic study of the Los Angeles Public Library from its founding to the present, as well as a love letter to libraries in general. Sparked by the mystery of the great fire, the author explores pertinent questions facing the institution of the library broadly, such as how to best serve the public, and what the library can do for homeless patrons, immigrants, children, and those who want to learn to read.

Read an interview with Susan Orlean about the book here.

Let us know if you can’t get a copy of the book, we can help get you one.

Can’t make the meeting, but are still reading the book? Let us know!