Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

The Library Book, by Susan Orlean, is a riveting mystery story, a history of Los Angeles and most of all a love story about  public libraries  everywhere and the key civic role they play around America, through an exploration of the Los Angeles Public Library, with its Art Deco central building and the passionate people who carry out its mission in starring roles.

You come away from reading Ms. Orlean’s book with a keener appreciation of how important –in some ways more important than ever – public libraries are as learning and community centers in a time of privatization and online personal insularity.

New England, for its part, is fortunate to have such great urban institutions as the Boston and Providence public libraries as well as many beautiful small-town libraries, many dating back to the 19th Century.