LOS ANGELES – It is not often that there is a media frenzy at the Los Angeles Public Library, but recently, something that went missing 50 years ago has now returned home thanks to the power of the written word and a little detective work.  

The Well of the Scribes was a three-piece bronze sculpture that once graced the library's West garden, but went missing after the gardens were converted into a parking lot in 1969.

City Librarian John Szabo said The Well of the Scribes, “had been missing for over 50 years, until two months ago, when we received an email from an antiques dealer in Bisbee, Arizona and he said, ‘I think I have a piece of your Well of the Scribes.’”

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Author of The Orchid Thief, Susan Orleans, wrote about the disappearance of The Well of the Scribes in her bestseller, The Library Book. It wasn't until the Arizona antiques dealer read an article by journalist Brandon Reynolds about the mystery that the connection was made and Szabo hopped on a plane to Bisbee to verify the piece.

“It absolutely took my breath away to see it,” said Szabo. “And it was a reunification of sorts between the library and the Well.”

Luckily, the sculpture had been well-documented in photographs dating back to 1926, so verification was relatively easy. The sculpture itself is an ode to The Light of Learning throughout many different world cultures, which Szabo says reflects the library's mission perfectly.

“The fact that this Well of the Scribes has an indigenous person and a Native American, it is an institution, the Los Angeles public library, that welcomes absolutely everybody,” said Szabo. “We want the building and everything in it and around it to reflect the diversity of this incredible place we live.”

What about the two remaining pieces of the sculpture? Szabo said if anyone has information, “they can call anybody at the LA Public Library and let us know that they've discovered something that they think might be a missing piece of art from the library, we'll gladly entertain their inquiry.”

The next step is to assess any conservation measures that might be needed, but in the meantime for The Well of the Scribes, there is no place like home.