SCPL Online NonFiction Book Club discussion

Chapter 2 is dedicated to a description of the events the day of the fire. Orlean notes that many of the staff and patrons just thought that the fire alarm was another false alarm and assumed that they would be back in the building shortly. Many people left items behind, figuring that they would soon be back in the building. Even the fire fighters at first couldn’t find a fire and assumed that it was a false alarm, until they could not reset the system. Reading the chapter I couldn’t help but sympathize with the staff at the horror they must have been feeling watching and waiting to see how bad the damage would be. I thought of the materials I work with every day and how devastating it would be for me to stand outside and helplessly watch them burn. I confess I got a little choked up when reading about the fire; maybe it was more poignant because of my work in libraries.

Did Orlean’s description of the fire and the materials lost after the fire evoke any reactions for you? As a patron, what parts of the library would you miss the most in the event of a fire?

Fire is terrible and I thought Orlean did a good job of illustrating both the physical aspects of the blaze and the emotional impact. I was spellbound as she described how the fire moved from room to room and how the different materials reacted. This particular fire was incredibly sad because of all the archives and irreplaceable things that were lost. Maybe I’m not familiar enough with library holdings because it seems like so many books can actually be replaced. It would be sad but it’s not the end of the world. A little later on in the book Orlean is talking about how often popular books are replaced so that to me wouldn’t be a big loss. It’s the historic and archival materials that I would mourn.

I worked at a place that had fire damage. We were on the ground floor under the Crown Counsel Office and they were victims of arson. Our offices suffered major smoke and water damage. It was a mess and I remember how devastating that was…and we didn’t lose anything particularly valuable! It’s an eerie feeling to go into a building that has burned. I can’t imagine how those librarians must have felt!

Thank you for your comment Heidi. I do agree with you that many materials in the library are replaceable. It would be sad as you said but not irreplaceable. I work with our Local History materials at the library and so that is what I think about when I think of materials burning. It hit me hard reading of all the material burned.

I can only image what it would be like working in a place with fire damage. What an insight to have when reading these chapters.

~Anne