The Library Book

Robert Sheahen, an LA-based criminal defense attorney with a history of taking high-profile, sensational cases also took Harry Peak’s. Sheahen knew Harry since 1983, though Orlean could never discover how they met. Sheahen took the case because he believed that the city had no evidence against Peak. Meanwhile, Harry spent three days in jail. When he emerged, a group of reporters and camera crews awaited him. Harry was excited by the attention. However, on March 3, 1987, the assistant district attorney announced that Harry Peak would not be charged for the crime of setting Central Library on fire. The news infuriated the fire investigators who unanimously believed that he was the culprit. Kay added that, if evidence surfaced implicating Peak in the crime, he could be charged. The case remained open. Yet, no new witness ever emerged and no substantive evidence was ever discovered.

Harry returned to his normal life, but his sister Debra told Orlean that no one hired Harry to work because he was notorious. Then, in January 1988, Harry emerged again in the company of his sometime employer, Leonard Martinet, who was representing him in the case. Harry Peak was suing the city of Los Angeles “for false arrest, slander, negligence, emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and assault and battery” (257). He sought an award of $15 million from the city and was suing arson investigator Dean Cathay, who declared Harry guilty, for $5 million for slandering him. The city countersued and demanded that Harry pay Los Angeles back for all of the books destroyed in the fire. There were also the costs of extinguishing the fire, worker’s compensation for injured firefighters, and the costs of repairing damage to the building. The city, thus, sued Harry Peak for $23.6 million. 

After they were frozen for two years, the books were to be “thawed, dried, fumigated, sorted, cleaned, repaired, and rebound” (261). The books were so wet that, according to estimates, they were “equal amounts water and paper” (261). After a group of books was dried, they were shuttled across town to the chief conservator whose team examined the books to see which ones could be catalogued and shelved and which had to be thrown out. Ultimately, 20% of the volumes that were dried were in strong enough shape to be shelved immediately. Around 35% dried well but needed to be rebound. Seventy-five percent of the books required thorough cleaning and fumigating. All books with glossy paper, which would have included many art books, were beyond repair. On June 3, 1988, constructions crews began restoring the Goodhue Building and broke ground to build the library’s new wing, designed by architect Norman Pfeiffer. 

There are many things in libraries that one wouldn’t expect to find. Los Angeles Public Library has an extensive collection of restaurant menus. There was also a great deal of music, particularly musical scores. Scores are expensive, costing “anywhere from three hundred to nine hundred dollars per score, and each musician in an orchestra needs his or her own” (267). Therefore, orchestras depend greatly on libraries to provide them with these materials. Sometimes, musicians borrow scores and do not return them. Some users of the music collection “have racked up as much as twelve thousand dollars in overdue fines” (268).