Susan Orlean's Ode to Libraries

More than 30 years after a fire destroyed 400,000 books at the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Library,  journalist Susan Orlean re-examines the tragedy in "The Library Book." Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992; her quest to piece together the events surrounding this little-known tale was fueled by her relentless curiosity, a love of reading, and a profound appreciation for the democratic institution of the library. "Libraries are remembering for a whole culture," she said. "That's what books do for all of us—preserve memory."