Although not as well known as the Central Library fire of 1986 this year marks 40 years since the Hollywood Library fire. “Although 14 fire engine companies fought for an hour and 15 minutes from 2:01 a.m. Tuesday, April 13, much of the written history of Hollywood is now in ashes A dazed community, many residents of which are in the writing acting professions, stares now at the shell of the Hollywood Library. According to evidence on the scene, vandals broke the glass windows in the back of the historic building entered, scrawled obscenities on the walls during a beer bust and then threw some incendiary material about wantonly setting the library on fire. Only a few books were saved from the north side, site of the reference room. Altogether, three-fourths of the collection of 90,000 books and magazines and other materials are gone, many impossible to replace including a rare set of Shakespeare plays, a multiple set of explorers Lewis and Clark’s chronicles of their travels and a collection of the papers of President Thomas Jefferson. Monetary damage, almost impossible to calculate, rests in the vicinity of $3 million for the books alone, according to Robert Reagan, public relations director the city’s library system. Structural damage, in early estimates, include $2000,000 to demolish what is left of the library and another $1.5 million to replace the building. Link in bio to read the full article. The copy of the video is from The Museum of Classic Chicago Television.