Los Angeles’ library system serves the largest and most diverse population in the nation and last year there were more than 11 million visits to its 73 libraries.

On this episode of Inside the Issues, we take a look inside the Central Library in Downtown Los Angeles. We chat with city librarian John Szabo to hear about how the library has become so much more than just a place to check out books.

Author Susan Orlean joins us to talk about the success of her latest work, the New York Times best seller, The Library Book. Plus, we show you a sneak peek at an upcoming exhibit highlighting an amazing autograph collection.

Susan Orleans’s book about the library came out last fall to rave reviews. It earned a spot on The Washington Post’s 10 best books of the year and The New York Times’ notable book of the year.

The 313 pages explore the roles that libraries play around the world. It also focuses on this particular branch and a fire that destroyed 400,000 books more than 30 years ago.

It was at the Central Library that a fire broke out on April 29, 1986. The fire was the largest structural fire Los Angeles had ever seen and burned for seven hours destroying nearly half a million books and damaging many more. That blaze and the investigation that followed plays a key role in Susan Orleans’s The Library Book.

In 2016, the LA Public Library started automatically issuing library cards to every student in LAUSD. These kids get to keep books as long as they want, which means no fines or late fees. If students lose or damage books, then they get a strike. If they get three strikes, no more books for the rest of the year.

Library leaders say the program is working out well. Books have been coming back, and in cases where books have been lost or damaged, families have apparently been stepping up and replacing them, even though that’s not a requirement.

The library isn’t just a home for books, it also hosts an amazing collection of autographs from the likes of California’s legendary naturalist John Muir, Helen Keller, and Fernando Valenzuela.

This fall the public will be able to see these autographs and many more as part of an upcoming exhibit called The Autograph Book of L.A.

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