VISITING THE STRANGEST "LIBRARY" EVER

 

East Lawn is a pretty park in the beautiful surroundings of old East Sacramento, with mature trees and an inviting air, perfect for anyone, except for one thing: It's a park for the dead.

East Lawn is a cemetery.

Decades later, I found out East Lawn contained a surprise the casual passerby could never have anticipated.

In 2017, I actually had a reason to stop by and go inside the forbidding main building, constructed a century ago. I was just looking for help finding a relative's grave. Not that I still felt like I had to justify walking in the door. I assumed it was all offices, or something.

When I remarked approvingly to the receptionist about the stained glass windows on the landing, I was pleasantly surprised to be invited to pop upstairs to have a look around. In fact, contrary to what I assumed, the building (except the office, naturally) is all open to the well-behaved public. And even more amazingly, what I found upstairs was the world's oddest library.

 

This, folks, is a library for the dead.

Or, more accurately, it's a library OF the dead.

I mean, why be content with a plain old gravestone stuck out in the rain or in the blazing Sacramento summer heat? Why, indeed, when you can spend eternity buried in a book. Literally. Where your loved ones can sit in air-conditioned comfort and style, contemplating the literary wonder that once was you.

In case I haven't spelled it out, every book is in fact an urn, containing the cremated remains of a Sacramentan.

 

I found it hard not to be charmed here. That's because, for what I assume is a substantial extra charge, you (or your family) get to personalize an alcove around your book, and that's what makes this library actually pretty endearing.

The more I looked around, the more I warmed to this unlikely library. I daresay that if there's room left, East Lawn's staff will be happy to chat with any interested librarians or other booklovers considering a tenancy on the shelves.

To read the complete article (subscription required), see:
A Library Full of People (https://annettelaing.substack.com/p/a-library-full-of-people)

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