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From a celebrated librarian and public historian, a memoir about the promise of public libraries in a fractured world.
"This wonderful book appeals to the heart as well as to the mind, challenging the dark times we live in." —Azar Nafisi, author of author of Read Dangerously and Reading Lolita in Tehran
When Dorothy Lazard became a public librarian, she returned to the building that had shaped her life from childhood. At the flagship branch ("the Main") of the Oakland Public Library, she connected with her hometown to a degree that few people experience. Helping her fellow community members and ultimately becoming the keeper of Oakland's public history archives, she witnessed the joys and dilemmas that shape one of the most diverse cities in the US. In Behind the Desk at the Main, Lazard takes readers through the day-to-day life of library work with love, wit, and candor. As the cracks in American society grow and our public institutions are strained to the breaking point, libraries remain the cherished containers of our ideals: They are places of curiosity, imagination, memory, and togetherness. Lazard reveals the pressures that library workers face—from economic crises to book bans and political upheaval—as they uphold these ideals in a fractured world. Filled with humor and urgency, Behind the Desk at the Main is a testament to the power of books and community in a time of division.
Praise for Behind the Desk at the Main:
"This wonderful book appeals to the heart as well as to the mind, challenging the dark times we live in. It shows how libraries as democratic spaces offer us an alternative way of perceiving the world, relating to the world, and changing the world." —Azar Nafisi, author of Read Dangerously and Reading Lolita in Tehran
"A microhistory of a great organ of civic life, told from the inside. Dorothy Lazard's anatomy of the library is like hearing someone standing in the heart of Oakland telling you how this city beats, totally unphased by how fantastic and fabulous that pumping is. As she describes it, labels it, she helps you see the world anew, like all librarians do." —John Freeman, author of California Rewritten
"Filled with insights gained from her years at the reference desk, Dorothy Lazard's book is crucial reading for anyone who wants to understand modern libraries—and why they must be protected at all costs." —Liam O'Donoghue, host of East Bay Yesterday
Praise for What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World by Dorothy Lazard (2023):
"What You Don’t Know will inspire for its grace, zest and courage." —Joan Frank, San Francisco Chronicle
"Lazard refers to her narrative as 'my recovery mission to retrieve a time in my life that marked me more deeply than any other,' and she succeeds handily, thanks to rigorous scene-building and memorable characterizations of her family. This is a powerful account." —Publishers Weekly
"Lazard’s story may exemplify a cultural awakening experienced by many of her Black peers, but it is also intensely individual, shaped as much by her own family circumstances as by the world around her. […] Compelling and memorable." —Kirkus Reviews
"The book focuses on [Lazard's] childhood and adolescence, as she shuttled from school to school, searching for her place in the world. It was a time of momentous change for Black people, and Lazard chronicles those upheavals and realizations with a clear, unsentimental view. A beautifully written memoir, full of heart and soul." —Chicago Review of Books
"Themes of self-discovery and finding one's place are a text constant in What You Don’t Know Will Make a Whole New World, a moving memoir about the enduring power of words." —Foreword Reviews
"Lazard was a beloved and stalwart librarian in Oakland. In this memoir, she recalls the Bay Area of the 1960s and 1970s, where she grew up. She also explores formative experiences and connections, the nuances of family, and her own curiosity and lust for life." —Alta Journal"Lazard’s journey to becoming an empowered Black woman with 'a place in this country' is a distinguished, uplifting story." —East Bay Express
"In her stirring memoir, former Oakland librarian and public historian Dorothy Lazard underscores the power of witnessing history through a personal lens." —Hannah Bae, San Francisco Chronicle
"Subtle, gentle, and deceptively simple, but I think it exemplifies a kind of archival work that is never satisfied with leaving the past in its boxes." —Aaron Bady, Oakland Review of Books
"I've rarely encountered such an endearing authorial voice. Wry and observant, Dorothy Lazard's writing evokes such distinctive neighbors and family members in a time, place, and culture truly worth cherishing." —Susan D. Anderson, History Curator, California African American Museum
Dorothy Lazard was born in St. Louis and grew up in San Francisco and Oakland. A librarian for nearly forty years, she joined the staff of the Oakland Public Library in 2000. From 2009 until her retirement in 2021, she was the head librarian of OPL's Oakland History Center, where she encouraged people of all ages and backgrounds to explore local history. Lazard was the 2023 recipient of the Oscar Lewis Award in Western History from the Book Club of California. Her first book, What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World: A Memoir, was published by Heyday in 2023; the book was shortlisted for a Northern California Book Award and a Foreword Indies Award. Lazard lives in Oakland.
Introduction
- The Main
- Here Comes Everybody
- Serendipity
- Adventures in Weeding
- Gathering a Lonely Planet
- A Second Start
- Your Other Teacher Is a Librarian
- Trouble in Paradise
- Bibliomania
- Dewey’s Decimal Ghetto
- The Library in the Municipal Food Chain
- A Book Is a Bomb
- Whose Work Is This?
- Harvesting History
- The Library as Literary Workspace
- Are You Ready for Your Mystery Date?
- The Future of History
- COVID and the Dubious Art of Pivoting
- Why We Leave
- My Free Little Library
- Dismantling Sarah’s Library
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Appendix: 100 Intriguing Reference Questions
About the Author
A Note on Type