The Library Book

Glen Creason, who was “the longest-tenured librarian at Central Library” when Orlean interviewed him, called her one Saturday morning, saying there was someone he wanted the author to meet (157). He introduced her to a young man named C.J. who was helping Creason “index a group of maps and atlases called the Feathers collection” (161). John Feathers, a hospital dietician, died in 2012 at age 56. After his death, his heirs found his maps in his cottage. There were so many maps that they could cover the lengths of two football fields. On the day that he and Orlean met, C.J. indexed 2,000 of the maps that would become part of the public library’s Feathers Map Collection. Orlean learned that C.J.’s grandfather, Captain Howard Slaven, was one of the firefighters who helped put out the 1986 fire. 

The investigation into what caused the Central Library fire started soon after it was extinguished. The city offered a $30,000 reward to anyone with information. Arson is a difficult crime to investigate due to the evidence being destroyed by the fire. Fires take time to start, giving the arsonist plenty of time to leave the scene. As a result of these difficulties, less than 1% of those charged with arson are convicted. Investigators rely on other information, such as details of strange behavior or the sight of someone in a place in which he or she didn’t belong.

A senior librarian recalled seeing a strange, young blond man walk into the staff workroom on the morning of the fire. Someone asked him to leave the space. In another department, a strange young man—perhaps the same one—was found in a restricted area. Around this time, a young man was also spotted in the History department, which is restricted to everyone but staff members. Before the library opened, a young man attempted to enter the library’s employee entrance. The guard on duty stopped him. The young man left angrily.

Orlean wonders where Harry Peak was after April 29, 1986. She figures that he was still working odd jobs, hanging out, and auditioning. By this time, Harry and his boyfriend Demitri were broken up. On the day of the Central Library fire, Harry called Hioteles, saying that he spent the morning on the scene of the fire. He claimed that a handsome fireman rescued him from the burning building. Hioteles didn’t believe the story. He never saw Harry read a new book, let alone visit a library. Hioteles dismissed the story.

That night, Harry traveled to Santa Fe Springs. He got high and drunk with his friends and told them about the fire. This time, he said that he started it. Back in LA, he told his roommates another version of the story: He helped an elderly woman out of the building through a window; then, the handsome fireman rescued him. Dennis Vines, one of Harry’s friends, tested Harry by asking him questions about the building, which Harry couldn’t answer. Vines concluded that Harry was telling another one of his fabulous stories.

In May, a woman named Melissa Kim called the tip line and said that the man the police sketched based on eyewitness accounts looked like her brother’s roommate, Harry Peak. Harry, she said, also told her brother that he was present during the fire. At first, there was nothing to connect Harry to the library fire. Nonetheless, the arson squad surveilled Harry. When Harry noticed investigators parked in a car outside of his house, he chatted with them and brought them coffee and doughnuts.

Kim’s mother then called the tip line and said that, while visiting her son, she saw Harry and noticed that he changed his appearance. The retired investigator helping with the case, Joe Napolitano, decided to question Harry. Harry said that he was running errands but decided to go to the library to admire its beauty. He recalled smelling smoke and hearing someone yell about a fire. He bumped into an elderly woman, knocking her over, but stopped to help her up. On the sidewalk, he claimed that he saw a Superior Court judge he knew and they chatted while the building burned. The story had numerous holes: No one yelled “fire” and no one smelled smoke because there was none until around 30 minutes after the alarm sounded. Investigators then asked if Harry recently cut his hair and shaved his mustache. He said that he couldn’t remember.

After Lummis was ousted, Dr. C.J.K. Jones failed to acquire his position. The library board chose Missouri-bred Purd Wright instead. Wright left after just eight months to take a job at the Kansas City library. His successor was Everett Robbins Perry, formerly the director of the Astor Library in New York, who remained at the Los Angeles library for 20 years.

Southern California was developing rapidly, particularly due to the expanding oil and film industries. There were more newcomers checking out more books. In 1921, patrons checked out over 3,000,000 books. Around the time the Prohibition laws went into effect, nearly every book about how to prepare liquor from home was checked out and almost none of them were returned to the library. In 1914, Perry moved the library to a new space—a building that it shared with a pharmacy and a grocery store. It was an unsuccessful move, but it had the benefit of making it clear that the community needed a freestanding library. A fundraising effort only garnered $2.5 million for the construction—a sum that paled in comparison to the New York Public Library’s $9-million construction budget.

The library was set to be built in what is now downtown Los Angeles. The Municipal Art Commission hired New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1922 to design the building. Aside from architecture, he also demonstrated talent at book design and typography. He loved California and, when hired, conceptualized a building that could be read like a book. The space would be a tribute to learning. His first sketches were unimpressive. Goodhue agreed to redesign his concept, which blended Spanish Revival architecture with modern touches. His new drawings were inspired by the Jazz Age and the 1924 opening of King Tut’s tomb. The commission loved his new work. By mid-April, Goodhue made great progress. Then, on April 23, he died of a massive heart attack.