The Library That Locked Its Doors

In 1986, the coal town of Centralia, Pennsylvania had a problem far worse than its famous underground mine fire. As toxic gases seeped through basement floors and sinkholes swallowed yards, the government offered buyouts. One by one, families left. The post office closed. The churches emptied. The gas station shut down. But the loss that haunted longtime resident Joan Girolami most was the day the public library packed its shelves into boxes and drove them away on a flatbed truck.…