Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2021)
BOOKMONGER Grieving a lost library Author researches the downfall of her beloved hometown library You can take the girl out of Yonkers but you can’t take Yonkers out of the girl. While author Patricia Vaccarino has lived most of her adult life in the Pacifi c Northwest, her hometown in New York is the inspiration for many of her stories. Two of Vaccarino’s previous books, “YONKERS, Yonkers” and “The Heart of Yon- kers,” were working class coming-of-age novels. But her latest eff ort, “The Death of a Library: An American Tragedy,” is something diff erent. The book is a mash-up of historical monograph and scathing indictment. Vac- carino explores the cal- culated political cronyism that brought down what many regarded as the crown jewel of her hometown, Yonkers’ Carnegie Library. Built in an unusual octag- onal shape, the Beaux-Arts style library was situated along one of Yonkers’ main arterials, at the top of a hill right next to City Hall. The library conveyed an Acrop- olis-like air to the city that once had been a manufacturing hub, home to Otis Elevator and the Domino Sugar Refi nery. This week’s book ‘The Death of a Library’ by Patricia Vacca- rino Modus Operandi Books — 184 pp — $12.95 By the time Vaccarino was growing up in Yonkers, the city was in decline but the library remained “a sight to behold, a grand object of per- manence and beauty, and a beacon of hope in a city that no longer reigned as a queen in manufacturing but was now being savagely torn up in the throes of urban blight and white fl ight.” She describes in detail the library inte- rior — a place of high ceilings, ornately tiled fl oors, lunette murals in the children’s section and a seemingly lim- itless supply of books — it seemed pala- tial to a working class youngster. I’d wager that many of us have similar strong attachments to the libraries of our youth. Often it was in the library that we fi rst discovered our own agency: getting a library card, considering the librarian’s book recommendations, then ultimately making decisions about which books to Patricia Vaccarino’s latest book focuses on the demise of her hometown library. Welcome Spring Breakers! NEW GO KART TRACK NOW OPEN! GO KARTS MINI GOLF GYROXTREME ROCK WALL KIDDIE RIDES AND MORE! SEASIDE, OREGON HWY 101 (1/4 mi South of Seaside) • 2735 S. Roosevelt • 503-738-2076 OPEN DAILY 11 A M T O 6 P M 14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM check out. Libraries, for many of us, are a foundational part of our existence. It isn’t hard to understand Vaccarino’s devastation when, after moving away as a young adult, she returns to Yonkers to visit her grandmother and discovers that the Car- negie Library — that seemingly eternal edi- fi ce on the hill, that bastion of books and ideas — is gone. All that is left next to City Hall is a hole in the ground. The library was demolished in a grandi- ose city renovation scheme but the prom- ised developments never materialized. That’s not to say that nobody profi ted — but local residents didn’t see the benefi t. In her research for this book, the author uncovers racism, redlining, government oversight and ineff ectual citizen opposition. Vaccarino writes at a fever pitch, naming names and alluding to “Trumpian” tactics and possible mob associations. If not always polished, “The Death of a Library” is a passionate requiem — and an accusation against a political system that ignored the public voice. The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMichael, who writes this weekly column focusing on the books, authors and publish- ers of the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at bkmonger@nwlink.com