The Library Book

The maintenance of public libraries is one social cause for which people are almost unanimously united. What lessons can we learn from libraries about communalism, particularly about how to integrate all members of communities, regardless of race or class, to support a common cause?

What do you think of the librarian’s union’s position on the parking lot? Do you agree with their cause to pave over Bertram Goodhue’s garden in favor of expanded parking? Why, or why not? How does this issue connect to broader concerns about city planning and making the best uses of outdoor space?

Consider your own experiences at libraries, both those in your community and in other cities. In what ways have libraries enriched your own life?

Imagine what would happen in a community that lost funding for its library. What critical resources would that community lose? What could a community do to supplant those resources, if anything at all?

Which of the librarians in the Los Angeles library system’s long history do you think had the most critical long-term impact on the library and its legacy? Describe how that person’s work remains relevant to the library’s current goals.

Do you agree with Orlean’s considerations of the book as a repository of memories and evidence of one’s existence? Why, or why not? What other contemporary media sources might serve similar purposes?

Do you agree with the city council’s decision not to take Philip Morris’s money to build its new wing? Why, or why not? Should public cultural institutions be selective about its sources of funding?

What relationship does Orlean draw between her memories of going to the library with her mother and that of dealing with her mother’s dementia while working on this book about a library?