The Lost Library

“Evan told Rafe everything: about finding his dad’s name in one of the books he’d taken, and the way his dad had kind of run away after seeing it.

Correction: He told Rafe almost everything. He didn’t mention that when he got up to his room, some impulse had made him shove both books deep under his bed. He felt like maybe he’d accidentally discovered something his dad was ashamed of.”

Evan understands immediately that his father is troubled by the presence of the old library books. This is an early clue in the mystery Evan sets out to solve. He is unaware of his father’s potential involvement in the fire, but he recognizes that his father is upset by the topic.

“[Mortimer] stretched out in the grass under his library, looked at the stars, thought of Petunia, and felt connected to the world.

And at the same time, a little lonely.”

Mortimer is highly protective of the remaining library books, which serve as a reminder of his sister; the novel closely associates The Magic of Books and Reading with books’ power to connect. Presumably lost in the fire, his sister is important to him, and memories of her comfort him.

“[Evan’s mother had] been counting down to graduation for a month, and he wished she would stop. It made him think about next year: the school bus, and middle school in Grantville, with new teachers and all those kids he had never met. Everything he didn’t want to think about.

He’d never say it to anyone, but sometimes Evan wanted time to slow down.”

Evan’s anxieties about attending middle school are a defining feature of his character and relate to the theme of growing up. Evan dislikes change and uncertainty, but the experience of confronting the library mystery helps him learn to cope with both.

“[Evan] was about to tie on his imaginary cape when an image rose up in his mind: a detective’s cap, like the one Sherlock Holmes wore.

That cape really was too small.

Instead, he drew his thumbnail down the middle of his forehead, adjusting his (imagined) cap. The gesture felt strangely natural. Evan smiled.”

Evan’s cape, which provides him with a sense of emotional security, is something he gradually no longer needs as he ages and gains confidence. An imaginary detective’s hat, he decides, is more appropriate, signifying his growing confidence in the face of the unknown.

“Mr. O’Neal nodded. ‘All of life is a mystery, in a way. And that makes every single one of us a detective.’ He continued down the row of desks.

Evan just sat there for a few seconds, looking at his desk. He was trying to solve a mystery, he realized: the mystery of the little free library and why it was full of books from a library that burned down twenty years ago. The mystery of H.G. Higgins and the Polaroid picture.”

Mr. O’Neal intends to speak metaphorically about the complexities of life, which children learn about as they age. Evan, however, applies Mr. O’Neal’s meaning a bit more literally as he realizes that the secrets surrounding the library fire are like a mystery he might solve. This distracts him from his anxieties about middle school and ultimately helps assuage them, as his successful navigation of the mystery bolsters his confidence.

“These young readers felt things about books, which is why I call them Great Readers. Being a Great Reader has nothing to do with reading great sophisticated books, or reading great long books, or even with reading a great many books.”

Al speaks of the book club that she oversees at the library. She emphasizes that what is important when it comes to reading is that the reader experience all that the book has to offer—that they are moved by the book emotionally. This is part of the magic of reading.

“The book club rug was our safe place, a place where you could say what you thought. One day, after I shared a particular book, one that meant a lot to me, a club member spoke up to say that he had read it already and found it extremely boring. I listened to him, and he listened to me. And that was fine.

I am not upset when others don’t love the books I love. We each have our own book spaces inside us, and they do not match up perfectly, nor should they.”

Al’s book club is a success because the members respect one another’s opinions. Al stresses that there are all types of books for all types of tastes and that what is important is to listen when others express their love of specific books rather than try to change their opinions. In this way, reading helps bring people together.

“For the first time, it occurred to me that books don’t get used up. Books get powered by the reader, didn’t they? They could be read again and again.”

Al’s discovery of the power of books and reading when she is young provides her with a rich and meaningful life. Because she has no parents or connections to other people, books become a way to anchor herself. Later, they allow her to connect with other people in a meaningful way.

“Ms. Scoggin told me, soon after I arrived, that every time she read a new book, she built a new room in her mind.

‘I have rooms and rooms up here now,’ she said, tapping above her left ear, ‘but there’s always space for another one.’

After that, whenever I looked into her shining brown eyes, I imagined an enormous and beautiful house on the other side of them.”

Though Ms. Scoggin is gruff and rather unfriendly, Al recognizes their shared love of books, and this allows her to respect and admire Ms. Scoggin. The metaphor of books as rooms establishes the power of reading to transport the reader to new places and links books to the physical spaces in which they are kept—i.e., libraries.

“The dear boy, as I’ve said, was a Great Reader. He read a good number of books, and more importantly, he took some of them straight to his heart. One of those books was a story about a mouse. It changed him. After he read that book, he could no longer see mice as the enemy. He saw them as fellow creatures, just as many people see a puppy or a horse.”

The boy that Al speaks of is Evan’s father, though this is not revealed until later in the book. However, the boy’s affection for mice is an important clue to his identity, though one Evan himself is not privy to.

“I feel the need to correct myself: The little library is not ‘mine.’ Libraries are meant to grow, and to be shared.”

Here Al explains the impetus for creating the little free library. Because there is no longer a public library in Martinville, she feels it is important to share what few books remain with the public. Her belief that books should be shared invokes an important philosophy behind libraries in general: that through books, knowledge can be democratized.

“It was altogether strange to be looking at that library cart after so many years. Ms. Scoggin’s words of that moment returned to me: You are a librarian, are you not?

And that is when it happened. An idea began to form in my mind: I would build a new library. (A very small one.)

It had been a long time since I’d had an idea. It felt very good.”

An important part of the inner conflict Al faces is the lack of purpose she has felt since the library’s destruction. By building the little free library, Al is able to reestablish her sense of purpose as a librarian.

“In truth, [Mortimer] was feeling quite overwhelmed by memories of Petunia. There was no library anymore, but Mortimer had been standing exactly where the old blue doors had once been. And those blue doors would always remind him of his fierce sister, Petunia, because of the time she got stuck on top of them.

He could almost hear her voice. ‘Chase me, Mortimer. Chase me!’

All your fault, his heart said.”

The guilt Mortimer feels about his role in the fire causes inner conflict. Coming to accept that the fire was truly accidental is an important development in his character that highlights The Importance of the Truth.

“When they were sitting at the table, his parents looked pretty happy. His mom had actually taken her headset off, and his dad was laughing. Maybe, Evan thought, he should stop trying to solve a mystery that probably didn’t exist.

He tried not to wonder about H.G. Higgins.

He tried to worry about nothing other than keeping his button-down shirt clean for graduation that afternoon.”

Evan’s relationship with his parents is important to him, his love for his father driving his desire to uncover the mystery of the library fire. In this moment, his parents’ happiness even allows Evan to set aside his personal anxieties to focus on the positive aspects of his life.

“Then the fifth graders stood up to get their diplomas, one by one. Mr. O’Neal stood off to the side and shook hands with every kid in their class. When it was Evan’s turn, he said, ‘Keep looking for life’s mysteries, kid.’”

Mr. O’Neal is a positive source of encouragement in Evan’s life. At this time, Evan is unaware that Mr. O’Neal knows of his father’s identity as H. G. Higgins. His statement is thus ironic in retrospect.

“Inside his head, [Evan] could hear the words he had copied from the newspaper clipping, almost as if they were screaming at him:

The fire warden has determined that the tragic fire started in the basement. The police are questioning a young library intern, who was the last person known to have been in the basement before the fire broke out. His name is withheld here due to his age.”

At last, Evan uncovers the reason that his father has acted strangely concerning the topic of the library fire. That he is believed to have started the fire has impacted his entire adult life. This discovery motivates Evan to confront his father and then to determine the complete truth.

“What an extraordinary half hour. How can I explain it? To be useful again, not as a tea-and-cheese-bringer or a potato-cooker and applesauce-maker, but, almost, as a librarian.”

Al is overjoyed to help Evan find the information he seeks about the library fire. Her interaction with him reinforces that she is a skilled librarian, reminding her that her job brought joy and fulfillment to her life.

“‘Pull me in—I need a hug’ [Rafe said].

He wasn’t kidding. When Rafe needed a hug, he asked for a hug. It was one of the things that made Evan understand that Rafe, unlike Rafe’s parents, was mostly fearless.”

Rafe and Evan are in some respects foils for one another. Rafe is fearless and open, while Evan, like his father, can be hesitant and reserved. Their friendship is strong despite these differences and is one of many instances of teamwork proving successful.

“I was particularly watching our dear boy, of course. Though we’d watched him grow quite tall by the time he was a teenager, his cheeks had never fully lost their roundness. He still blushed whenever he spoke, which is a sure sign of depth and sincerity. And, at Ms. Scoggin’s funeral, he spoke.

He talked about what the library meant to him.”

Al’s description of Evan’s father, Edward, characterizes him as a kind and caring person. Both Edward’s ethical nature and his love of books convince Al, like Evan, that Edward is innocent of setting the fire.

“‘I shouldn’t have yelled at him,’ [Ms. Scoggin] said. ‘He was a good boy.’ She covered her librarian pin with one hand.

I didn’t say anything. I knew she wasn’t talking about the child who had just left our house. We both knew exactly who she was talking about. The dear boy. But what could either of us do about it now?”

Ms. Scoggin reveals here that she regrets her interactions with Edward, Evan’s father, on the day of the library fire. In this way, she places a degree of blame for the fire on herself. Uncovering the truth about the cause of the library fire helps her forgive herself for their culpability, much as it relieves Mortimer’s sense of guilt.

“‘You are on your way, my dear. Your small library is a success. And today you have met a brand-new patron.’

‘Patron?’ [Al] repeated.

‘You know your place again,’ [Ms. Scoggin] said. ‘At last.’”

Though Ms. Scoggin has provided important mentorship to Al, she is certain that Al can now thrive without this guidance: Al will in turn continue to nurture others through providing them with the opportunity to read and enjoy books. Ms. Scoggin’s ghost can now leave, as Al is capable of living on her own.

“Without even getting up from the floor, Evan opened his father’s library book and started to read it.

It was about a mouse.

And suddenly, Evan understood. His father’s ‘soft spot’ for mice had started right here, with the book in his hands. Everything went back to the library.

His dad deserved justice. His dad deserved to be able to talk to people in town without feeling like they were suspicious of him.”

Many of the threads of the novel unite as Evan pieces together more and more details about his father’s past. The mice, a seemingly minor aspect of the novel, take on a much greater role than previously expected as they exonerate Evan’s father of causing the fire.

“I made the applesauce, and baked the potatoes, and managed the cheese cupboard. I am ashamed to say that it never occurred to me that the dear ghosts wished to be someplace else.”

When Ms. Scoggin and Mr. Brock float away, Al is taken aback and initially wants them to stay or else to go with them herself. Eventually, however, she realizes that she cannot go with the ghosts. In the end, Mr. Brock and Ms. Scoggin find meaning in their relationship with each other and in finally fulfilling the plans they made for the evening of the fire; Al, meanwhile, still has a purpose to fulfill in life.