Posted September 22, 2006.

Teens Arrested in California High School Library Arson

Three young adults suspected of setting fires that burned down the San Lorenzo Valley High School library in Felton, California, were arrested September 19. The teens told investigators they had been drinking at a party before they went to the school campus and started lighting fires, according to the September 21 Santa Cruz Sentinel. “They said they were burning posters and paper decorations in the hallways all the way from the junior high school to the high school,” said Deputy Sheriff Steve Christensen.

The blaze started around 2:30 on the morning of September 16 when a fire was set in recycling bins against the outside wall of the library. The September 19 Sentinel reported that the library walls were still standing but the fire destroyed 11,000 books, library furniture, and about 25 iMac computers. “From floor to ceiling everything is melted, everything is burned,” said Principal Craig Lewis.

School officials estimated the damage at more than $2 million and that rebuilding efforts could take two years or more. A classroom adjacent to the library opened September 20 as a temporary study center and office space for three library staffers.

One of the youths, Garrett Frasca, 18, was jailed. The two younger boys were taken to Juvenile Hall on September 19. The Sentinel noted that Santa Cruz County, where San Lorenzo Valley High School is located, has the sixth highest rate of teen drinking in California.

High School Librarian Jane Langdon told a colleague that she had just posted a quote from author Ray Bradbury in the library the day before the fire in anticipation of the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture,” the quote read. “Just get people to stop reading them.”

Posted September 22, 2006.