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Description
Arlington Public Library Director Diane Kresh hosts Susan Orlean, bestselling author, journalist and essayist the Washington Post calls "a national treasure."
Susan Orlean's newest work, "The Library Book," an exploration of the history, power, and future of these endangered institutions, is a finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Nonfiction. "The Library Book" is told through the lens of Orlean’s quest to solve a notorious cold case: who set fire to the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986, ultimately destroying 400,000 books? Erik Larson, author of "The Devil in the White City" and "Dead Wake," wrote, “After reading Susan Orlean’s 'The Library Book,' I’m quite sure I’ll never look at libraries, or librarians, the same way again. This is classic Orlean—an exploration of a devastating fire becomes a journey through a world of infinite richness, populated with unexpected characters doing unexpected things, with unexpected passion.”
About the author:
Susan Orlean's deeply moving explorations of American stories both familiar and obscure have earned her a reputation as one of America’s most distinctive journalistic voices. A staff writer for "The New Yorker" for over twenty years and a former contributing editor at "Rolling Stone" and "Vogue," she has been praised as “an exceptional essayist” (Publishers Weekly) and a writer who “approaches her subjects with intense curiosity and fairness” (Bookmarks).
In a career spanning more than three decades, Orlean has also written for Outside, Esquire, The Boston Globe, and more. She is the author of "Rin Tin Tin," "The Orchid Thief," and "Saturday Night," a portrait of the varying experience of Saturday night in dozens of communities across the United States. Entertainment Weekly concluded, “I can’t think of a better way to spend Saturday night than staying home and reading this book.”
Orlean has served as an editor for "Best American Essays" and Best American Travel Writing, and her journalism has been compiled into two collections: "The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup: My Encounters with Extraordinary People" and "My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who’s Been Everywhere." Orlean’s work has inspired two successful films: "Blue Crush," the story of young women surfing in Maui, and "Adaptation," the metafilm directed by Spike Jonze. Meryl Streep, who portrayed Orlean in the film, was nominated for an Academy Award, as were costars Nicholas Cage and Chris Cooper and writer Charlie Kaufman.
Orlean is currently Rogers Communications Chair in Literary Journalism at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. She is also the host, with actress Sarah Thyre, of the podcast Crybabies, a series of candid conversations with creative guests about the books, music, TV, and movies that make them cry.
Recorded at the Arlington Public Library on April 22, 2019.
A
Good
evening
good
evening,
can
everybody
hear
me
in
the
back
all
good?
Thank
you.
My
name
is
Kate
summers
and
I'm.
The
current
president
of
the
Friends
of
the
Arlington
Public
Library,
on
behalf
of
the
library
board,
I'd
like
to
welcome
you
to
tonight's
event.
As
many
of
you
know,
the
Friends
of
the
Arlington
Public
Library
provides
all
the
programming
support
for
our
library
system.
We
fund
events
like
the
one
we're
at
tonight.
Author
events.
We
do
our
fantastic
summer
reading
a
lot
of
our
Maker
events.
A
All
of
that
comes
from
fundraising,
largely
supported
by
you,
so
I
am
here
tonight
just
to
say.
Thank
you
thanks
to
all
of
you
who
are
dues-paying
members
of
the
friends
at
the
Earling
tenue
brer
ii,
and
if
you're,
not
yet
a
member,
you
can
see
me
after
the
event
I'm
happy
to
sign
you
up.
Memberships
start
at
just
five
dollars
a
year,
thanks
to
all
of
you
who
showed
up
at
the
April
2nd
County
Budget
board.
B
A
All
of
that
money
is
coming
back
to
the
library
to
fund
important
events
like
like
the
one
we're
having
tonight.
So.
Thank
you
thanks
to
all
of
you
for
your
support
and,
if
you're
interested
in
getting
involved
with
the
Friends
of
the
Arlington
library.
Please
see
me
after
the
event,
without
further
ado,
I'd
like
to
introduce
diane
crash,
the
director
of
the
arlington
library
system
and
a
woman
whose
vision
of
inclusivity
of
importance
of
library
programming's
makes
our
mission
and
our
support
a
true
joy,
so
Diane
craft.
C
Hi
good
evening
and
happy
Earth
Day
and
thank
you
Kate
and
the
Friends
of
the
library
for
your
ongoing
support,
and
thank
you
to
all
of
you
how
many
of
you
have
been
to
an
Arlington
reads
event
before
it's
awesome,
I
mean
we
do
this
really
for
all
of
you.
This
is
a
great
community.
It's
a
reading
community!
It's
a
curious
community.
C
C
2019
series,
our
stories
ourselves
features
for
women
writers,
each
gifted
in
the
arts
of
memoir,
poetry
and
prose.
Some
of
you
were
here
on
March
14
for
a
delightful
evening
with
Jacqueline
Woodson,
young,
adult
author
and
poet.
How
many
of
you
were
here
for
that
was
a
great
evening.
Last
week
we
hosted
a
lively
evening
with
poet
and
memoirist
Mary
Carr
anybody
here
for
that,
okay
and
on
May
16,
we
will
host
Tracy
K
Smith
who's,
the
Pulitzer
Prize,
winning
poet,
laureate
of
the
United
States
and
she's.
C
The
author
of
ordinary
light,
her
memoir
of
race,
faith
and
a
mother's
love
will
close
this
season
on
June
3rd,
with
Marion
Winnick
who's,
a
longtime
all
things
considered
commentator
and
whose
latest
book
is
the
Baltimore
book
of
the
day.
If
you
haven't
read
it
read
it
put
it
on
your
list.
It's
it's
a
treasure.
Next
year's
Arlington
Ruiz
theme
is
We
the
People
and
we
will
examine
issues
central
to
our
practice
of
democracy,
which
means
we'll
be
talking
about
the
Pres,
the
role
of
the
press,
social
movements
etc.
C
So
we're
just
now
finalizing
the
authors.
Please
watch
our
website
for
details.
Tonight,
however,
belongs
to
Susan
Orlean,
author
and
journalist
who's
been
called
a
national
treasure
by
the
Washington
Post,
a
staff
writer
for
The
New
Yorker
since
1992
and
a
former
contributing
editor
at
rolling
stone
and
Vogue
Orlean
has
been
praised
as
an
exceptional
essayist,
a
writer
who
approaches
her
subjects
with
intense
curiosity
and
fairness
and
books
like
rin-tin-tin
the
life
and
the
legend
and
the
orchid
thief.
C
A
true
story
of
beauty
and
obsession
have
earned
her
a
reputation
as
one
of
America's
most
distinctive,
journalistic
voices
or
leanest.
Current
lead,
Rogers
communications,
chair
in
literary
journalism
at
the
Banff
Centre
for
arts
and
creativity
in
Alberta,
Canada
and
she's.
Also,
the
host
with
actress
Sarah
tire
of
the
podcast
crybabies,
a
series
of
candid
conversations
with
creative
guests
about
the
books,
music,
TV
and
movies
that
make
us
cry
tonight.
C
We're
discussing
her
latest
work,
the
instant
New,
York,
Times
bestseller,
the
library
book
everybody's
read
it
right
an
engrossing
story
of
the
history,
allure
and
future
of
public
libraries
told
against
the
backdrop
of
a
devastating
fire
at
the
Los
Angeles
Central
Library
in
1986.
We
hope
you
will
take
a
few
minutes
to
enjoy.
Our
lobby
exhibit
celebrating
the
unique
contributions
libraries
and
librarians
have
made
to
our
communities
whether
the
library
we
visited
as
children,
Richard,
Brautigan
library
of
unpublished,
books,
the
Carnegie
Library
in
Columbus
Ohio.
C
Even
the
little
free
libraries
that
adorn
our
yards,
libraries
exist
to
gather
and
protect
our
stories
to
keep
us
curious
and
informed
to
comfort
those
who
are
troubled
and
connect,
those
who
are
newly
arrived.
They
say
to
each
one
of
us.
You
belong
here.
The
library
book
was
included
on
the
New
York
Times
list
of
100
notable
books
of
2018
and
the
Washington
Post
best
books
of
2018
author
Dave
Eggers
wrote.
This
is
a
book
only
Susan
Orlean
could
have
written.
C
B
You
Diane
and
thank
you
all
for
being
here,
I,
have
to
say
the
weather
is
so
much
better
than
when
I
was
supposed
to
be
here
originally
so
I
feel
very,
very
lucky.
This
was
an
auspicious
act
of
God,
which
is
what
it
says
in
your
air
on
your
airline
tickets,
that
they're
not
responsible
for
acts
of
God,
but
I'm
incredibly
happy
to
be
here
now
and
I
appreciate
your
being
here.
So
much
thank.
C
B
This
book
evolved,
which
was
not
the
way
all
many
of
my
books,
have
been
sort
of
a
lightning
strike
where
one
day
I
just
hears
something
and
decide
I'm
doing
that
book.
This
was
a
little
bit
different.
It
emerged
in
three
different,
distinct
parts,
one
of
which
was
simply
being
in
the
library
one
day
and
looking
around
and
having
that
what
I
think
of
as
the
sort
of
journalist
itch
of
thinking,
how
do
libraries
work,
I
mean
I've,
been
in
libraries.
Thousands
of
times
in
my
life
and
I
actually
have
no
idea
how
they
work.
B
Someone
should
write
a
book
about
that,
not
me,
but
somebody
should
write
a
book
about
that
and
the
reason
I
say
not
me
is
that
I
was
not
looking
to
write.
Another
book
I
had
decided
that
I
was
done.
Writing
books.
I
didn't
want
to
make
that
kind
of
commitment.
It's
just
too
much
work.
The
next
thing
that
occurred.
You
know
I
filed
this
in
the
back
of
my
mind
and
thought
I
think
it's
an
interesting
idea,
but
that's
you
know,
friends,
don't
let
friends
write
books.
B
The
next
thing
that
happened
was
my
husband
and
I
had
moved
to
Los
Angeles.
My
son
was
in
first
grade
and
very
early
on
in
the
school
year.
He
got
an
assignment
to
write
about
someone
to
interview,
someone
who
worked
for
the
city,
so
his
first
grade
five
years
old
little
wild
boy
and
I
kind
of
thought
about
it
and
I
said
why?
Don't
you
interview
a
garbage
man
and
he
sized
me
up
and
thought
she's
a
writer
how
about
if
I
interview
a
librarian
and
I
thought
I
am
such
a
good
mother.
B
So
we
headed
to
the
library-
and
this
was
the
first
time
we'd
gone
to
our
branch
library
in
LA
and
when
I
walked
in,
even
though
it
doesn't
bear
any
resemblance
to
the
library.
I
went
to
growing
up.
I
was
overwhelmed
with
memories
of
going
to
the
library
with
my
mother,
which
we
did
every
week
several
times
a
week
throughout
my
growing
up,
I
was
almost
speechless.
The
memory
was
so
potent
and
it
was
something
I
hadn't
thought
about
in
a
long
time
and
I
thought
what
is
it
about?
B
A
library
that
is
so
emotional
I
mean,
if
you
look
at
it
on
a
very
clinical
level,
it's
just
a
building
with
books
in
it,
and
yet
that's
not
how
we
feel
at
all.
It's
such
an
emotional
connection,
it's
something
so
profound
and
so
affecting,
and
these
memories
of
going
to
the
library
with
my
mother
were
so
vivid.
It
was.
It
was
overwhelming
and
I
thought
someone
should
write
a
book
about
this,
not
me,
but
somebody
so
fast
forward.
B
A
couple
of
weeks,
I
was
asked
by
the
Friends
of
the
LA
library
to
give
a
talk
and
as
a
fundraiser
and
I
went,
they
were
holding
it
in
a
country
club
somewhere
in
LA
after
I
gave
my
talk.
The
head
of
the
friends
group
came
up
to
me
and
he
said
you
know.
I
really
want
to.
Thank
you
I'd
like
to
offer
you
a
tour
of
the
downtown
library
and
I
was
very
excited
because
I
didn't
know
la
had
a
downtown,
so
I
said
I
would
love
to
go.
B
I
mean
this
is
gonna,
be
what
an
adventure
when
I
went
to
meet
him.
I
immediately
fell
in
love
with
the
building.
It's
I'm,
not
sure.
If
any
of
you
have
been
to
the
LA
library,
but
it
doesn't
look
like
a
typical
big
city
library.
It
doesn't
look
like
the
New
York,
Public,
Library
or
Chicago
Public
Library.
It's
a
very
whimsical
building
very
eccentric.
B
B
I
I
just
got
more
and
more
excited
hearing
the
stories
of
the
building
of
the
patrons
of
the
history
of
the
place
we
wandered
over
the
fiction
section
and
the
gentleman
giving
me
the
tour
stopped
in
front
of
one
of
the
bookshelves
and
pulled
a
book
off
the
shelf
and
held
it
up
and
took
a
deep
whiff
of
the
book
and
I
thought.
I'm
new
to
LA.
B
Maybe
it's
a
thing
here:
do
I
take
another
book
off
the
shelf
and
smell
it?
Do
I
smell
the
book,
he's
smelling.
What
do
I
do
so?
I
stood
there
kind
of
smiling
and
nodding
my
head,
and
he
said
you
know
you
can
still
smell
the
smoke
and
some
of
them
and
I
didn't
know
what
he
meant
and
I
said.
Did
you
used
to
let
people
smoke
in
the
library
and
he
said
no
nose
from
the
fire
and
I
said
from
from
what
fire
and
he
said,
the
big
fire
in
1986.
C
So
the
structure
of
the
book
was
really
interesting
to
me,
because
it's
sort
of
like
a
series
of
concentric
circles
and
you
pull
it
all
together.
I
mean
you
start
with
describing
the
color
of
the
arson,
the
alleged
arsonist
hair,
that's
the
page
one
and
it
was
yellow
for
those
of
you
haven't,
read
it
yet
and
and
then
you
go
from
there
you're
talking
about
history
of
libraries,
and
you
know
you
do
talk
about
the
fire.
C
But
then
you
talk
about
your
own
relationship
with
books
and
reading
and
and
the
Burke
the
book
burning
incident,
which
I'll
let
you
describe
a
little
bit
later,
but
so
that
the
structure
itself
was
interesting.
So
how
did
that
reveal
itself
like
when
you
started
out?
Was
it
I'm
gonna
find
out
how
this
fire
started?
Or
was
it
something
else?
Well.
B
When,
when
I
heard
that
the
fire
was
arson
I
and
it
was
essentially
a
cold
case,
my
first
thought
was
well
I'm.
Gonna
solve
this.
You
know,
which
is
an
incredible
amount
of
vanity.
Just
FYI
arson
is
probably
the
single
most
difficult
crime
to
investigate,
and
it's
the
least
successfully
prosecuted
of
all
felonies,
and
yet
here
I
was
planning
to
crack
this
case
and
over
time,
I
began
to
realize
that
wasn't
what
the
book
was
gonna
be
about,
but
I
began
by
reporting
every
element.
B
It
felt
to
me,
like
a
starburst,
that
you
have
this
building
this
institution
that
evokes
tremendous
emotion
it
had.
It
has
an
incredibly
rich
history
that
I
wanted
to
learn.
Its
history
is
inextricably
connected
to
the
history
of
LA,
which
I
I
was
new
to
LA.
I,
didn't
know
anything
about
la
history,
I
needed
to
know
everything.
I
could
know
about
the
young
man
accused
of
the
arson
I
needed
to
understand
arson
I
needed
to
learn
about
the
history
of
burning
of
libraries,
which
sadly
has
as
old
as
the
history
of
libraries.
B
So
I
reported
the
story
in
every
different
direction,
not
really
having
any
idea
of
how
I
would
structure
it.
When
I
finally
sat
down
to
write,
I
began,
seeing,
as
you
say,
this
consent
tricity
of
stories
that
each
one
was
nestled
inside
the
other
one
and
the
and
the
next
one
and
the
next
one
I
finally
surrendered
to
what
felt
like
the
organic
inevitability
of
the
book,
which
was
that
it
is
many
different
volumes.
B
All
in
one
book
that
you
browse
from
story
to
story
much
the
way
you
would
browse
through
a
library
that
you
read
a
little
about
Harry
peak
and
and
then
you
read
a
little
about
the
history
of
Bern
libraries
in
World,
War,
two
and
then,
and
then
you
come
to
the
present
day
of
the
library.
And
then
you
go
back
to
Harry
peak
that
it.
It
was
in
a
sense.
You
were
browsing
the
the
library
of
stories
about
the
library
and
that
there
was
no
single
story.
B
C
B
This
was
I,
didn't
expect
to
go
down.
This
particular
rabbit,
hole,
I,
thought
well,
I'll
just
have
a
list
of
the
people,
who've
run
the
library
you
know
just
I
thought
I
would
just
dispense
with
it
very
quickly
and
even
though
I
learned
soon
shortly
after
I
began
reporting,
the
book
I
came
upon
two
important,
salient
facts:
one
is
that
the
people
who
run
libraries
have
a
higher
than
likely
percentage
of
being
unusual.
That's.
B
On
the
other
hand,
the
people
who
are
attracted
to
living
in
LA
seemed
to
have
a
slightly
higher
likelihood
of
being
unusual.
So
you
have
these
two
Venn
diagrams
with
a
and
a
fascinating
overlap,
which
is
people
who
live
in
LA,
who
have
run
the
library,
a
very
special
subset
and
one
that
proved
to
me
to
be
irresistible
I.
B
When
he
became
he
became
the
head
of
the
library
in
its
own
remarkable
way,
which
was
he
didn't,
have
any
training
as
a
librarian,
although
he
was
a
scholar
and
an
author
and
certainly
a
very,
very
intelligent
man,
but
he
wasn't
trained
as
a
librarian.
At
the
time,
the
library
in
LA
was
being
run
by
a
woman
named
Mary
Jones,
who
was
actually
the
first
trained
librarian
to
run
the
library
and
she
was
doing
a
great
job.
She
was
well-liked
and
and
well
respected.
B
She
was
called
in
one
day
to
a
meeting
of
the
board
and
they
said
you
know
you're
doing
a
wonderful
job,
but
we
would
all
agree
that
it
would
be
better
to
have
a
man
run.
The
library,
wouldn't
you
and
she
said
basically
no
and
she
refused
to
resign.
They
wanted
her
to
resign.
She
wouldn't
resign,
it
launched
what
is
known,
and
this
is
a
sort
of
hidden
piece
of
history
that
I
stumbled
upon
and
that
I
couldn't
resist
writing
about.
B
It
was
known
informally
as
the
great
library
war
and
thousands
of
women
marched
in
the
streets
of
LA
protesting,
Mary
Jones's
being
pushed
out
of
her
job.
I
won't
tell
you
all
the
details,
so
you
can
read
it
read
about
it
in
the
book,
but
ultimately,
Charles
Lomas
did
take
over
as
the
head
of
the
library
and
he
was
an
extremely
unusual
head
librarian.
B
He
hated
when
people
read
books
that
he
thought
were
stupid,
so
he
had
a
branding
iron
made
with
the
skull
and
crossbones
and
he
branded
the
books
that
he
thought
were
particularly
stupid
and
then
put
slips
of
paper
in
them
saying
there
are
far
better
books
on
the
subject,
and
he
was
just
he
was
a
remarkable
man
and
in
many
ways
a
really
brilliant
man
and
certainly
transitioned
the
library
from
its
beginning,
as
which
was
very
typical
of
libraries,
which
was
a
small
institution
for
educated
men.
Women
didn't
really
have
full
privileges.
B
Children
were
not
permitted
at
all
and
it
was
really
essentially
run
like
a
private
club,
even
though
it
was
a
public
institution.
He,
despite
his
Harvard
background
and
his
his
eccentricity,
to
be
gentle
about.
It,
believed
firmly
in
this
Democratic
ideal
that
the
library
should
be
a
place
that
welcomes
everyone
from
scholars
to
newspaper
boys
to
factory
workers
and
that
it
should
be
used
to
better
people
and
that
they
could
use
it
to
raise
their
station
in
life,
and
it
was
a
pretty
radical.
D
B
At
the
time,
so
as
much
as
you
might
look
at
him
and
think
this
is
the
guy
who
deposed
Mary,
Jones
he's
also
the
person
who
brought
a
truly
democratic
mission
to
the
library
and
and
many
of
many
of
the
changes
that
he
instituted-
and
this
is
in
1905-
are
actually
not
only
active
in
the
library
but
essential
to
the
way
the
library
is
run
today.
Sure
so.
B
This
was
a
very
ordinary
day,
a
weekday
beautiful
spring
day
in
the
library
it
was
10:00
a
little
bit
after
10:00
in
the
morning,
and
a
fire
alarm
went
off
now.
To
give
you
a
little
context,
the
building
in
1986
was
60
years
old.
It
had
been
built
in
1926,
it
was
in
terrible
shape.
It
had
books
piled
in
every
corner,
it
had
a
million
fire
code
violations,
it
was
it
had
no
air
conditioning,
they
would
close
the
library
down
when
the
temperature
inside
it
got
over
95
degrees.
B
It
was
really
a
an
aging
Dowager
to
be
kind
about
it.
The
fire
alarm
went
off
all
the
time,
so
nobody
really
got
excited
when
the
fire
alarm
went
off,
they
would
just
sort
of
grudgingly
leave
the
building
and
that's
exactly
what
happened
in
that
day.
There
are
about
200
staff,
200
patrons
they
all
left
the
building
the
fire
department
showed
up
and
they
probably
felt
the
same
way,
which
was,
oh
god.
Here
we
go
again
and
they
checked
the
fire.
B
B
So
the
fire
exploded,
and
you
can
imagine
a
library
has
so
much
flammable
material
and
this
fire
began
roaring.
It
reached
2500
degrees.
It
was
so
hot
that
it
wasn't
just
burning
books,
the
steel
bookshelves
melted,
it
was.
The
fire
was
primarily
in
the
stacks,
which
are
the
parts
of
the
library
where
the
books
that
are
not
out
on
the
shelves
are
kept,
and
these
stacks
were
basically
cement.
Tubes
filled
with
books.
B
B
C
B
Think
I'll
read
to
you
a
little
section
of
the
list
of
books
that
were
lost
what
was
lost
a
volume
of
Don
Quixote
from
1860,
illustrated
by
French
print
maker,
Gustave,
DeRay,
all
of
the
books
about
the
Bible,
Christianity
and
church
history.
All
biographies
of
subjects
H
through
K,
all
American
and
British,
plays
all
Shakespeare
90,000
books
about
computers,
astronomy
physics,
chemistry,
biology,
medicine,
seismology,
engineering
and
metallurgy.
C
So
the
restoration
effort,
the
staff
was
very
involved
in
it
and
yeah
and
the
community
as
well.
So
can
you
just
describe
a
little
bit?
You
know
after
after
the
you
know
the
shock
of
oh,
my
gosh.
What
we
have
to
deal
with,
how
did
the
staff
get
involved?
How
were
they
organized
and
then
the
second
part
is:
how
did
the
community
contribute
to
rebuilding
the
collection?
Well,.
B
If
it's
really
in
many
ways
a
wonderful
story,
I
mean
obviously
it's
a
terrible
incident,
but
any
notion
you
have
that
la
doesn't
have
a
civic
spirit
or
that
it's
not
a
book
of
rete
of
a
city
of
readers
is
simply
proven
to
be
false
in
in
what
came
after.
First
of
all,
the
city
had
insurance
on,
of
course,
on
the
building
which
survived
the
fire
in
remarkably
good
shape.
B
It
did
not
have
insurance
on
the
books,
so
all
of
the
books
that
were
lost
all
of
the
books
that
had
to
be
restored.
All
of
that
money
had
to
be
raised,
and
there
was
a
a
huge
effort
that
ended
up
drawing
in
people
from
every,
not
only
the
city
itself,
but
the
surrounding
area,
and
they
raised
ten
million
dollars
which,
in
1986
money
was
a
huge
amount
of
money.
B
People
came
packed
books
to
get
out
of
the
building.
The
librarians
were
there
from
the
beginning,
like
doing
physical,
labor,
to
save
the
books
and
salvage
them.
A
temporary
library
was
set
up
downtown,
but
you
know
the
next
few
years
were
spent
raising
money
to
replace
these
books,
and
then
this
is
funny
because
it
had
never
even
occurred
to
me
when
they
finally
reopened
the
building.
B
B
There
was
no
way
this
could
have
been
done
without
a
huge
number
of
bodies
involved
and
without
people
really
rising
to
the
to
the
need
of
raising
a
huge
amount
of
money
to
help
rebuild
the
collection,
and
certainly
some
of
the
collection
could
not
be
rebuilt.
I
mean
you,
don't
simply
go
and
reorder
these
things.
B
I
mean
this
is
you
know,
I
was
talking
to
the
wyman
Jones,
who
had
been
the
head
of
the
library
at
the
time,
and
he
said-
and
maybe
he
was
exaggerating,
but
he
said
the
books
came
from
a
thousand
different
vendors.
So
you
don't
just
go
on
Amazon
and
like
put
two
million
books
in
your
shopping,
cart
and
click.
Buy
I
mean
it.
It
involves
sourcing
these
books
from
hundreds
of
different
places,
and
it
took
years
before
the
library
was
back
to
the
number
of
books
hid
it
had
had
at
the
time
of
the
fire.
B
Some
would
say
that
we
now
are
more.
We,
the
investment,
now
has
been
in
a
lot
of
digital
material
that
can't
be
destroyed
in
the
same
way,
but
libraries
are
incredibly
vulnerable
and
they're
up
until
1986
the
American
Library
Association
recommended
against
sprinkler
systems,
which
is
something
I'm
sure
you're.
Aware
of
that,
the
fear
was
that
something
with
trigger
sprinklers
and
that
would
that
would
do
more
damage
than
a
fire
might
now.
The
library
is
sprinklered,
it
has
Halen
or
whatever
the
other
gases
in
the
rare
book
room
there.
B
B
I
interviewed
quite
a
few
of
them,
many
of
them,
the
majority
of
them
are
now
retired,
but
there
are
still
a
few
people
working
at
the
library
who
were
there
at
the
time
of
the
fire,
and
you
know
it
was
traumatic
for
them.
It
literally
traumatic
and
the
City
of
LA
hired
a
psychologist
to
work
with
the
librarians,
because
many
of
them
had
essentially
PTSD
I
mean
they.
They
stood
there
watching
the
work.
You
know,
librarians,
don't
just
like
stamp
a
due
date
on
your
book.
I
mean
they
actually
build
these
collections
and
they
it's.
C
B
That
we
say
Shh
right
but
I
mean
it's
interesting
to
realize
that
I
now
am
so
much
more
appreciative
of
what
librarians
actually
do,
but
they
were
truly
traumatized
and
many
of
them.
You
know
they
had
regular
meetings
with
the
psychologists
because
they
were
so
rattled
and
I
mean
seven
hours
to
watch
your
professional
life
burn
down
and
I.
Just
the
other
day
saw
video
footage
of
the
fire
which
I
had
never
seen.
B
C
B
Harry
peak
was
a
the
kind
of
guy.
You
see
around
LA
a
lot
he's.
He
was
handsome
charming
tall
swaggering,
probably
the
best-looking
guy
in
his
high
school
class,
who
then
thought
well
the
next.
The
natural
sort
of
transition
in
his
life
was
to
be
a
movie
star
and
came
to
LA
and
was
parking.
Cars
and
you
know
running,
was
a
messenger
and
barely
getting
by
he.
B
He
had
one
significant
personality,
trait
that
proved
problematic,
which
was
he
was
a
pathological
liar,
and
he
even
his
own
mother,
said
to
me
that
he
was
a
pathological
liar,
which
is
really
bad.
If
your
mother
says
it,
he
loved
being
the
center
of
attention,
he
loved
having
his
life
seem
more
dramatic
than
it
really
was.
How
did
he
become
a
suspect
in
the
fire?
Well,
he
began
telling
people
he
had
started
it,
which
is
you
know,
a
number
one
bad
idea.
If
you
don't
want
to
become
a
suspect.
B
Secondly,
there
was
some
one
scene
in
the
library
the
morning
of
the
fire
who
was
kind
of
walking
into
the
staff
areas
where
the
public
was
not
permitted
to
go,
and
several
different
librarians
had
seen
the
same.
What
appeared
to
be
the
same
young
man
who
more
or
less
fit
Harry's
description
Harry
besides
bragging
to
his
friends
that
he
had
started
the
fire.
He
then
told
the
arson
investigators
that
he
had
started
the
fire
and
they
said.
Oh
okay,
we
that's
interesting.
B
Then
he
came
up
with
not
just
one
but
seven
different
alibis
regarding
where
he
was
the
day
of
the
fire
and
I
have
to
say
I'm,
not
looking
down
the
long
road
to
a
life
of
crime,
but
I
would
say
the
one
takeaway
from
this
was.
If
you
are
accused
of
a
crime,
stick
with
one
alibi,
don't
go
with
seven
so
he
became
you
know
he
vacillated
between
saying
he
had
done
it
and
then
saying
he
hadn't
done
it,
but
he
knew
things
about
the
day
of
the
fire.
B
E
B
Had
happened,
someone
had
knocked
a
woman
over
a
security
guard
had
noticed
it.
This
young
man
had
helped
her
up
and
then
left
the
building,
so
he
became
the
city's
one
prime
suspect,
and
the
case
took
many.
Many
convoluted
and
convoluted
turns
from
that
point,
but
it
it
really
began
with
him
telling
people
that
he
had
done
it
and
then
his
roommates
mother
called
the
tipline
and
said
I
think
I
know
who
did
it
so.
C
Near
the
end
of
the
book,
you're
talking
I
think
with
a
forensic
specialist,
a
fire
specialist
who
basically
said
you,
know
the
the
arsonist
that
the
people
investigating
kind
of
landed
on.
It
was
arson
and
they
never
never
really
moved
on
from
there
or
as
his
opinion
was
it
probably
wasn't.
It
was
you
know,
a
short
in
a
coffee
pot
cord
or
something
like
that.
Right
and
I
guess
you
know
most
of
the
evidence
have
been
destroyed.
So
so
is
this
one
of
those
then
really
cold
cases.
B
Know
I
think
that
it
yes
I
I
mean
first
of
all,
it
was
very
interesting
for
me
to
begin
learning
a
little
bit
about
arson
investigation,
because
when
you
see
the
photographs
of
the
fire,
you
can't
imagine
that
there's
any
evidence
that
you
could
possibly
Salvage
it
was
just
charred.
It
was
just
black
soot.
B
It
has
become
one
of
those
crimes
where
the
re-examination
of
some
of
these
very
high-profile
arsons,
where
there
were
fatalities,
have
there's
a
very
high
percentage
of
them.
Upon
being
re-examined,
have
been
shown
to
not
have
been
arson
and
that
arson,
the
tools
of
arson
investigation,
were
really
outdated.
They
they
didn't
represent
forensic
science
particularly
and
it
was
almost
oral
tradition.
One
firefighter
would
explain
to
the
next
how
you
investigate
arson
and
that's
how
it
was
done
without
it
actually
being
held
to
the
more
typical
standards
of
forensic
science.
B
So
when
I
interviewed
this
man,
who
runs
something
called
the
arson
project,
which
is
similar
to
the
Innocence
Project,
where
they
reexamine
arsons,
that
where
there's
some
question
about
the
validity
of
the
investigation-
and
he
said
knowing
that
he
wasn't
really
able
to
examine
the
scene,
but
it
stands
to
reason
that
a
library
with
all
sorts
of
electrical
problems,
which
there
was
no
question-
that
this
had
electrical
problems-
that
that
there
was
a
good
reason
to
wonder
whether
maybe
it
was
not
arson
at
all.
No
other
suspect
ever
emerged
in
in
any
credible
way.
B
Harry
peak
might
have
started
the
fire,
but
his
own
credibility
as
a
witness
is
so
questionable
and
there
was
never
hard
evidence.
It
was
all
circumstantial.
It
was
based
on
this
identification
of
him.
It
was
based
on
his
confession
and
the
fact
that
he
as
I
said,
knew
certain
things
that
had
taken
place
that
day,
but
that
doesn't
mean
he
started
the
fire
and
that's
the
problem.
It
might
have
proven
that
he
was
in
the
library,
but
it
still
didn't
prove
he
started
the
fire.
Is
it
a
cold,
cold
cold
case
I?
C
I
want
to
go
back
to
something
you
alluded
to
a
little
bit
ago
about
the
book
burnings
in
the
30s
and
just
wrap
that
with
your
impressions
about
libraries
in
general
and
their
value
to
the
communities.
So
you
did
an
experiment
that
you
described
in
the
book
about
what
it
was
like
to
to
burn
a
book.
Would
you
like
to
talk
about
that?
Yes,.
B
And
this
was
not
meant
to
be
prescriptive
in
any
way,
I
decided
to
burn
a
book
for
two
reasons.
First
of
all,
I
was
gonna,
be
writing
about
this
event
in
which
400,000
books
were
burned
and
I
realized.
I
had
never
seen
a
book
burn
and
I
I
I
thought
it
would
be
useful
to
have
the
visual
reference
so
that
I
could
write
the
descriptive
parts
of
the
the
chapter
on
the
fire
with
with
that
knowledge.
B
But
there
was
a
deeper
reason
and
it
was
the
reason
that
resonated
through
the
book
for
me-
and
that
was
this
exploration
of
why
it
was
so
difficult
to
burn
a
book.
Why
we
feel
such
a
connection
to
books,
I
mean
I,
could
burn
a
book
and
go
and
buy
another
copy.
I
mean
you
could
say:
well,
that's
a
waste
of
money,
but
it's
it's.
That's
not
what
it's
about!
It's
a
deep,
almost
gut-level
taboo
to
burn
a
book.
B
B
It's
almost
as
if
you
conjure
every
through
the
history
of
time.
This
association
with
book
burning
by
burning
a
single
book
I
had
gotten
to
a
point
where
I
didn't
think
I
could
do
it.
I
just
thought.
You
know
if
I
I
can't
explain
it,
but
I
I
can't
do
this
and
it
not
being
able
to
do.
It
actually
supported
my
my
theories
and
my
themes
in
the
book,
which
was
that
we
have
a
connection
to
books
that
is
deeper
than
something
that
we
can
express,
or
it's
not
a
material
thing.
B
I
mean
we
all
love
books,
they're
beautiful
objects,
but
our
connection
is
a
spiritual
one
and
to
destroy
a
book
feels
like
a
spiritual
wound.
I.
Finally,
well
I
just
didn't
think
I
could
do
it.
I
thought
well,
I'll
burn
a
book,
I
don't
like
and
then
I
thought.
Well,
that's
awful
I'm,
not
gonna
burn
a
book.
I,
don't
like
and
I
thought
I'll
burn
a
book,
I
like
and
then
I
thought.
Well,
that's
even
more
awful
I.
Don't
want
to
do
that.
I
thought!
Well,
I'll
burn
one
of
my
books.
B
Cuz
I
have
a
lot
of
copies
of
him
and
then
I
thought
I
I
can't
from
one
of
my
own
books,
I'll
go
into
therapy
for
a
year
just
trying
to
get
over
this.
So
I
thought
you
know
what
I
can't
I
can't
do.
This
I
can't
figure
it
out
and
one
day
my
husband
came
home
and
he
was
just
grinning
ear-to-ear
and
he
said:
I
found
your
book
for
you
to
burn
and
he
handed
me
a
copy
of
Fahrenheit
451.
F
B
I
knew
that
Ray
Bradbury
of
all
people,
Ray
Bradbury,
who
loved
the
LA
Public
Library,
who
spent
most
of
his
childhood
there
teaching
himself
because
he
couldn't
afford
college
who
wrote
this
book
about
the
horrors
of
book
burning
would
have
appreciated
very
much
the
this
afternoon
and
a
very
hot
sunny
day
in
LA,
where
I
sat
in
my
backyard
and
burned
a
copy
of
his
book.
So.
C
You
talked
about
the
primal
connection
that
people
feel
with
books
and
libraries.
We
often
think
of
libraries
as
being
the
soul
of
the
community
and
I'm,
just
and
and
yet
I've
been
in
the
profession
for
a
long
time
and
pretty
much
since
the
advent
of
the
Internet
there's
the
death
knell
for
a
lot.
Well,
we
don't
need
libraries
everything's
online.
Who
cares
why
and
and
so
so?
Why
are
they
important
I
mean
we
talk
about
stories
and
clean?
B
I
absolutely
think
we
need
libraries
and
they
resonate
as
much
as
they
ever
have.
And
interestingly,
the
internet
came
into
widespread
use
about
20
years
ago.
Libraries
have
stuck
around
I
mean
the
the
drama
of
oh,
my
god.
We
don't
need
libraries,
I,
think,
has
kind
of
come
and
gone,
or
at
least
it
the
the
moment.
The
inflection
point
has
passed,
but
we
do
need
libraries,
we
they
are
places
they're,
not
just
an
online
portal.
There
are
physical
places
where
that
we
share
as
a
community.
B
I
can't
think
of
very
many
places
that
we
as
a
people
own
together
and
share
together
and
and
see
the
who
we
are
as
a
community
within
them.
Secondly,
libraries
have
done
a
remarkable
job
in
embracing
the
Internet
and
making
the
Internet
another
part
of
what
they
offer,
rather
than
seeing
them
in
opposition
I
mean
if
libraries
had
just
said,
we
have
books,
that's
what
we
have.
These
would
have
become
museums,
they
would
be
museums
where
you'd
go
to
look
at
those
interesting
things
called
books,
but
that's
not
at
all
what
libraries
have
done.
B
They
have
become
the
portal
of
knowledge
and
information
through
physical
books
through
the
internet
through
events
through
learning
and
community
events,
that
are
that
it's
like
a
living
library,
now
I
think
in
a
way
that
maybe
20
years
ago,
we
weren't
that
good
at
making
library
is
so
vital.
Maybe
the
this
this
sort
of
spook
of
the
internet,
taking
over
made
libraries,
really
reassess
what
they
are
to
a
community
and
and
made
that
so
much
more
vital
I
mean
everything
from
citizenship
services
to
being
children's
story
hours.
B
There
there's
something
wonderful
talk
about
Marie
Kondo
I
mean
if
you
can
take
all
that,
we
all
own
all
of
these
books,
how
fabulous
I
don't
have
room
for
them
in
my
house,
but
you
can
take
them
out
one
at
a
time.
I
mean
there's
something
where
the
idea
of
borrowing
books
actually
suits
the
the
way
we
are
grappling
with
the
way
we
live.
You
know
in
a
really
timely
way,
I
feel
really
optimistic
about
libraries.
C
C
We
have
just
opened
a
new
maker
lab,
so
people
can
come
in
and
do
a
project
and
they
can
sew
and
they
can
use
a
hand
drill
and
they
can
get
a
lamp
rewired
and-
and
these
are
the
kinds
of
things
that
libraries
have
have
gotten
good
at,
because
they
want
to
be
providing
the
most
value
to
the
communities
that
they
serve.
So
it's
brought
around
a
whole
culture
of
innovation
and
I
think
a
lot
of
surprising
ways.
I
wanted
to
kind
of
close.
C
B
This
was
a
quote
that
I
had
come
across
while
I
was
working
on
the
book.
I,
don't
even
remember
now,
where
I
came
across
it,
but
I
wrote
it
out
on
an
index
card
and
I
had
it
hanging
over
my
desk,
while
I
was
working
on
the
book
and
I
kept
thinking,
I've
got
to
figure
out
how
to
fit
that
in
I.
Don't
understand
what
it
means
but
I
liked
it.
B
When
I
began
working
on
the
book,
I
had
very
excitedly,
told
my
mother
that
I
was
doing
this
and
because
my
mother
had
been
my
library,
buddy
I
knew
she
would
be
thrilled
and
and
take
credit
for
it,
and
it
was
wonderful.
I
mean
she
was
thrilled.
To
imagine
that
she
had
inspired
me
to
want
to
write
about
libraries,
not
long
after
I
began
working
on
the
book.
My
mother
was
diagnosed
with
dementia
in
the
next.
What
feels
like
a
very
short
amount
of
time,
her
memory
began
disappearing.
B
It
was
that
experience
that
made
me
begin
thinking
how
our
minds
are
really
like
libraries
that
we
contain
volumes
and
volumes
of
memories
of
knowledge
of
fantasies
of
vignettes
stories.
All
of
them
are
stored
almost
like
little
individual
books
in
our
in
our
minds,
and
similarly,
our
attachment
to
libraries,
I
think
is
because
they
are
our
communal
mind
and
they
contain
all
of
the
stories
of
a
culture
and
seeing
my
mother
lose
her
memory.
B
It
was
as
if
all
of
those
volumes
that
were
in
her
private
library
we're
disappearing,
and
it
gave
a
certain
urgency
to
the
book
to
me
because
such
so
much
of
what
had
first
triggered
my
desire
to
write
about
it
was
remembering
those
trips
with
her
and
and
savoring.
The
memory
of
of
what
going
to
the
library
had
meant
to
me
and
unfortunately,.
C
C
E
B
G
E
H
B
Lazy,
that's
the
honest
truth:
I
just
didn't
want
to
go
to
the
trouble
of
indexing.
It
and
I
I
mean,
but
there's
a
real
reason,
which
is
while
I
think
an
index
is
helpful
after
you've
read
a
book
and
you
want
to
go
back
and
find
something.
I
I
wanted
people
to
have
an
immersive
experience
of
the
book.
B
I
Read
the
book
all
the
way
through.
Oh,
this
is
a
very
physically
satisfying
book
to
touch
to
look
at
to
feel
to
examine
it's
very
satisfying
and
I
wondered
if
you
could
talk
about
your
decision-making.
I
did
notice
that
at
the
very
end
you
talk
about
how
glossy
pages
you
could
never
recover
and
I
noticed
that
all
your
photograph
that
you
don't
have
any
glossy
writers.
J
I
B
Sure,
thank
you
well,
as
I
said
from
the
beginning,
I
didn't
want
a
dust
jacket,
I
wanted
it.
I
just
didn't
want
anything
between
you
and
the
physical
object
of
the
book
and
I
wanted
it
to
feel
like
it
could
have
been
a
book
from
any
moment
in
time
that
it
didn't
feel
like
it
was
meant
to
be
old-timey,
but
that
it
was
timeless.
B
We
didn't
have
glossy
photographs
because
we
wanted
them
to
be
embedded
in
the
page
itself
and
you
can't
do
different
I
mean
you
could,
but
it
would
look
not
very
pretty
to
have
some
pages
be
on
glossy
paper,
but
I
wanted
the
pictures
to
be
within
the
text.
So
that's
why
they
were
printed
in
just
black
and
white,
and
we
were
very
mindful
of
writing.
B
B
H
Fascinating
to
hear
you
discuss
your
book
and
I
really
enjoy
your
work.
I
also
really
enjoy
Mary
Norrises
recent
book
about
her
experiences
on
the
editing
and
proofreading
staff
of
The,
New,
Yorker
and
I
wondered.
Have
you
thought
about
doing
a
book
about
the
New
Yorker
from
your
unique
perspective,
and
do
you
have
any
good
Lu
Berk
stories?
Oh
well,.
B
B
J
Hi
I
just
want
to
say,
I
very
much
enjoyed
your
book.
I
read
it
actually,
while
I
was
traveling
across
the
country
for
the
last
18
months,
I've
been
traveling
by
RV
so
and
one
of
the
things
that
my
husband
and
I
did.
Every
time
we
went
to
a
small
town
was
actually
visit,
the
local
library-
oh
that's
great,
it
kind
of
seemed
that
wasn't
just
and
also
like
a
lot
of
the
RV
stops.
We
had
had
their
own
little
library,
it's
very
much
about
sharing
and
all
that
so
cuz.
J
You
don't
want
to
have
a
lot
of
books
with
you
on
the
road,
so
you
share
and
kind
of
distribute
in
a
lot.
But
I
was
wondering
for
you.
Did
you
when
researching
this
book?
Did
you
travel
to
a
lot
of
libraries,
or
do
you
do
that
as
a
hobby,
when
you're
in
a
new
place,
maybe
go
and
see
the
local
library
and
what
they
have
to
offer?
Well,.
B
I
had
never
done
that
before
it
and
now
I
realized
that
it's
a
phantom
force
of
all
a
lot
of
libraries
are
really
interesting
buildings.
So,
if
you're
simply
interested
in
architecture,
it's
really
fun
to
see
these
libraries,
but
it's
also
a
wonderful
place
to
get
a
flavor
of
a
city.
Now
I've
been
in
you
name,
the
city
I've
been
in
the
library,
I've
been
on
book
tour
since
October
and
I
have
seen
a
lot
of
libraries
and
it's
been
amazing.
B
J
C
J
K
Hi,
my
friend
Karen
and
I
often
share
books
and
when
she
reads
a
book,
she
underlines
in
very
faint
pencil
when
I
read
the
book
I
put
in
little
sticky
things
and
after
we're
finished,
we
get
together
and
we
discussed.
You
know
that
our
favorite
parts
and
sometimes
I
mark
where
the
plot
turns
or
just
a
beautiful
sentence
and
I,
was
wondering
if
you
have
some
particularly
favorite
parts
of
the
book
that
you
could
share
with
us.
Oh.
B
This
book
and
I
ended
up
being
really
really
proud
of
of
those
last
couple
of
pages,
and
it
felt
I
was
both
proud
of
the
writing,
but
I
also
felt
like
it
had
a
sort
of
it
felt
conclusive.
It
felt
like
it
brought
the
book
around
properly
and
that
you
could
feel
toward
the
end
of
satisfaction
as
a
reader.
So
the
those
men
a
lot
to
me
I,
also
just
one
more
boy.
I-
could
talk
about
this
all
night.
B
Describing
the
fire,
which
was
really
tricky,
to
figure
out
how
to
do
that
and
I
ended
up
really
enjoying
doing
it
and
I
mean
it
was
very
challenging
because
I
had
to
take
all
these
fire
department
reports
and
these
insurance
company
reports
and
eyewitness
accounts
and
try
to
somehow
internalize
them
all
and
then
write
that
section
and
I
really
enjoyed
doing
it.
That.
K
D
Hi
first
I
wanted
to
thank
you
as
a
librarian
and
as
somebody
who
got
engaged
in
a
library
for
complexify
the
library
on
a
page
for
people
who
don't
always
understand
what
it
is
that
we
do
every
day,
I,
it's
just
so
crucial
and
hearing
it
from
librarians
all
the
day.
All
the
time
doesn't
mean
anything
to
parents.
So
thank
you,
but
I
also
am
I.
D
B
Imaginative,
but
that
is
just
to
read
as
much
of
the
best
nonfiction
that
you
can
find
and
read
then
read
some
more
and
read
lots
of
it
and
in
as
much
as
you
can
diagram
them.
So
you
see
how
they
work
and
what
the
mechanism
is
of
a
piece
of
nonfiction.
Writing
that
you
really
love
I,
think
believe
it
or
not.
I
encourage
when
I
teach
I
encourage
people
to
imitate
the
writing
that
you
really
love
and
eventually
you
won't
be
imitating
it
anymore.
B
F
B
C
Didn't
mention
the
architect:
Bertram
Goodhue
was
the
architect
of
the
Central
Library
in
LA.
If
you
want
to
see
a
local
example
of
his
work,
the
National
Academy
of
Sciences
Building
on
Constitution
Avenue
in
DC,
is
a
pretty
good
representative
example,
and
secondly,
just
to
underscore
again,
we
were
talking
about
the
sharing
economy.
If
you
want
to
get
rid
of
your
old
books,
the
friends
will
take
them.
They
have
the
book
sale.
C
The
money
comes
back
to
buy
more
books
for
the
library,
it's
Arlington's
oldest
recycling
program,
so
it
would
be
a
real
help
to
us
and
it
helps
us
sponsor
evenings
like
this.
Without
the
friends
we
would
not
be
able
to
have
first-rate.
Authors
come
and
talk
to
us
about
things
that
matter.
So
it's
it's
a
real
terrific
relationship
and
one
that
we
couldn't
survive
without.
So
thanks
all
for
being
here,
Thank
You
Susan.
There
was
thank.
C
L
You
guys
so
much
for
coming.
We
one
more
page
books
is
here
selling
books.
So
if
you'd
like
to
purchase
a
book,
you
can
we're
gonna,
be
making
a
nice
orderly
line
back
there
and
we're
gonna
be
doing
the
book
signing
in
this
quiet
study
room
so
you'll
be
going
in
that
door
and
we're
gonna
come
out
this
door.