Dorothy Lazard at North Berkeley Public Library

You are invited to join us for an author talk with local author, public historian, truth teller, and retired librarian Dorothy Lazard! Books will be available to purchase on-site through Pegasus Books.

In her new book Behind The Desk At The Main: A Librarian’s Memoir, celebrated Oakland librarian and public historian Dorothy Lazard offers an insider’s look at the modern American library. Through personal stories and decades of experience, Lazard demystifies the work of librarians and reveals how libraries serve as vital hubs- and defenders- for knowledge, connection, and civic life. 

Over the course of Lazard’s 20 year tenure at Oakland Public Library’s flagship branch- known as “the Main”- she built a career helping residents connect with the city’s past and present, eventually becoming the keeper of Oakland’s local history archives while serving people from every walk of life and gaining a unique vantage point on the concerns and heath of her city. 

The book also highlights the growing challenges libraries face today. As one of the last truly democratic and free municipal services, the public library has become a battleground in cultural and political debates. Efforts to restrict access to books- particularly works by and about people of color and the LGBTQ+ community- have placed librarians on the frontlines of the fight for intellectual freedom. 

As economic crises, political polarization, and social divides place strain on public institutions, Lazard argues that libraries remain among the most powerful symbols of democratic ideals- spaces dedicated to curiosity, imagination, memory, and shared civic life. Both a celebration of librarianship and a call to defend public institutions, Behind The Desk At The Main offers readers an intimate portrait of the people who keep libraries running- and how these cherished institutions become the lifeblood of the communities they serve.