Behind the Desk at the Main: A Librarian's Memoir

by Dorothy Lazard

From a celebrated librarian and public historian, a memoir about the promise of public libraries in a fractured world.

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Books About Books

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 18, 2026

About the author

Dorothy Lazard was born in St. Louis and grew up in San Francisco and Oakland. A librarian for 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. She lives in Oakland.

Reviews

[Kate Belt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a great read for library lovers and everyone else who appreciates a narrative story about a job and an operation they never thought about before. She is a supreme storyteller! Every bibliophile will identify with Lazard’s life long relationships with books and reading and her hunger for knowledge. These were heavily emphasized in her earlier memoir. See below for more. Her life experience as an Black woman shows up in both stories. Here are just a few of the chapter titles from this memoir in essays about 20 years at Oakland (CA) public library, the last 12 spent as the Archives Director: “Adventures in Weeding”; “The Library in the Municipal Food Chain”; “Harvesting History”; and “My Little Free Library.” This last one describes one of her many retirement projects.

Her intro succinctly describes the book’s message: “People need their libraries more than ever. Our public libraries play an important role by promoting literacy, a most basic survival skill for both children and adults. It is in this mileu that I write this book. Part memoir, part institutional history, this book is my tribute to the Oakland Public library, especially the hard-working Main Library staff who keep the place afloat, to the patrons who keep the work interesting, and to librarians across the country who uphold the promise of freedoms that public libraries offer anyone who crosses their portals.”

I don’t know why her previous memoir, her coming of age story that starts with the family’s Route 66 road trip when they moved from Missouri to San Francisco isn’t listed in this book. I highly recommend it. Read it first if possible, but you don’t have to: What You Don’t Know Will Make a Whole New World. I was thrilled to learn Lazard authored another book. Wish I remember where I heard about it, but I recognized the author from the previous memoir & knew I wanted to get my hands on it as soon as possible!

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who spent a lot of their youth as patron, volunteer, and worker in libraries, this book had an automatic charm. I was hoping for captivating anecdotes from working as a librarian, and this book had a number of them, but it also has a number of sections focused on the proper role of the library and identity based concerns.

Both of those topics could work, but they flounder in the book. I end up feeling like I'm reading persuasive argument essays that remind me of school assignments (very well executed assignments!) that come off as a bit patronizing, that don't feel satisfying even when I share the view. On the side of identity, only a minority of the information felt at all distinctive (the ones that were, were mostly good, though some of those were still the same very generic thoughts as opposed to experiences distinctive to being a librarian).

There were a number of pieces that give you a feel for what being a librarian is like and what it further means with her identity. Those parts are great. If the book could have been entirely kept to them it'd have been a solid 4 star read. Definitely not a regretted read, and the makeup of the book is shown in the sample, so if that's worthwhile, the quality keeps up (not something most books can claim) and its worth reading.

[Susie · Rating 3 out of 5]

How interesting that Lazard had the foresight to journal and tell many stories from her time as a librarian. I have spent quite a bit of time in public libraries, a few weeks as an intern. I wonder about the anticipated audience for this book; librarians naturally, but there are others who could really learn more about the many things that libraries do. My favorite parts were the stories about individuals who Lazard and others helped. I wonder if there were people left out of the acknowledgements who were disappointed. Some of the people mentioned did not come out in a good light.

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind the Desk at the Main is a love letter to the Oakland Public Library. Through a series of connected essays Lazard shares her thoughts and experiences of working at the library. It is a thought-provoking and accessible look into the life of a Black librarian who has witnessed and worked through many evolutions of her library. Highly recommended for library loving readers.

Thanks to Edelweiss and Ingram for providing me with an eARC.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love OPL so much.

And, as I read on, I realized that Dorothy helped me research the lore of the Oakland Municipal Band many years ago. I remember thinking 'This librarian is magic.'

Thank you, Dorothy, for such a considered and thoughtful book and for celebrating one of the charms of Oakland that I love the most.

[Laura LaCourse · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Excellent perspective, learned a lot..