The Library Book

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-20

Chapters 21-24

Chapters 25-28

Chapters 29-32

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Fire

The fire at Central Library was an ostensible tragedy, but it also facilitated the possibility for renewal—that is, the construction of a larger library downtown and a much needed new wing. Fire, therefore, operates within the book as a metaphor for renewal, not unlike a phoenix rising from self-immolation. The fire at Central Library also restored the community’s sense of unity, which had either been broken or in question since the 1960s. The fire brought together hundreds of volunteers who were determined to save those books that hadn’t been burned by the fire. In this way, the fire also revived the community’s lifeline. Finally, the fire at Central Library resulted in what it needed most—a larger, more stable library and a new wing to house its more recent acquisitions

Cataloguing Systems

The book’s most consistent motif is Orlean’s choice to start each chapter with the titles of numerous books, along with their authors, publication years, and Dewey decimal number. Each set of books that Orlean uses to preface a chapter reflects the story that Orlean will tell in that particular chapter. In this way, Orlean uses the Dewey decimal system, which always seemed both mysterious and sensible to her, to guide her through the mystery of what caused the fire at Los Angeles Central Library, as well as the broader implications of the blaze. The motif of cataloguing creates a sense of order in circumstances in which there are many possibilities and ideas. The irony of using this motif is that, while the Dewey decimal system always helps librarians find what their patrons need, it gets Orlean no closer in understanding either what caused the fire at Central Library or how Harry Peak became the chief suspect in starting it.

Los Angeles

In The Library Book, Central Library becomes a microcosm, or a smaller representation, of the city in which it exists—Los Angeles. Orlean frequently refers to the city’s history and politics to explain the genesis of its library system. The city’s fluctuating demographics and its increasing homeless and immigrant populations are reflected within Central Library. The institution has also matured in tandem with the city, which started as a hard-scrapple pioneer town and became as culturally-rich as the East coast metropolises to which Los Angeles has long been unfavorably compared.

Orlean also uses the library to reorient herself to downtown Los Angeles, a long-neglected area that Orlean often ignored during her early visits to the city. Learning more about the library helps her understand how downtown Los Angeles has changed over the decades. The library’s dilapidated appearance in the 1960s could have symbolized the downtown area’s general decline due to white flight and the loss of a significant portion of its tax base to nearby suburbs. The recent restoration of the downtown area coincided with Central Library’s expansion of services and its development of new technologies and departments.