MobiIubrica}i0n G 尾〃 B00 た . "lt made me sad that some people were mean tO Negroes," Ruth concludes. "But it helped tO know that good black people all over the country had pitched in t0 help each other. The G B00 た became the object of widespread fascination in 2015 , when the Schomburg Center for Research in BIack Culture at the New York Public Library digitized its holdings and made them avail- able online. Librarian Maira Liriano, WhO was respon- sible for that project, first heard about the G B00 た ln an NPR segment six years ago. Sometime after that, she was foraging in the Schomburg archives and discovered a copy ofthe guide. "Travel guides in gen- eral tend tO be pretty rare," she tells me, and that is especially the case with one like the G B00 た that were updated each year. Those wh0 used it would dis- card old versions for each new one. "You didn't want t0 put yourself in danger by having something that was out ofdate. Reut , the archite ctural historian , IS working on a pr0Ject called Mapping the G B 側た , an online car- tographic verslon Of Taylor's work, while Sorin, the Cooperstown professor, is finishing a documentary with Ric Burns about the G 比ビ〃 B00 た and driving while black. She says that while the G B00 た highlights the struggles Of African-Americans, it is alSO evidence Of a broader integration Of American society. The Afri- can-Americans whO intrepidly set out with G ビ〃 B00 た in glove compartment "laid the groundwork" for inter- racial couples, ethnic minorities and gays and lesbians wh0 wanted the freedom already enjoyed by whites. I first learned about the G 尾 B 側た from99% 2 化 加ⅵ豆と a popular podcast about American history and culture. The 20 -minute program conclude d with Taylor in the basement 0f the central branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, which has 11 copies ofthe G B00 た in its collections. "They're just little jew- els," Taylor says, holding one. I mean, ljust buzz with this kind ofgood energy ・ I had read plenty about the G 尾 B00 た before I got t0 see one. But I finally did at the Schomburg Center, where Taylor was a scholar-in-residence before taking a similar positlon at Harvard. Several librarians met us ln a conference r00n1 ; on a large table were several editions 0f the G B00 た . They were small, and the smallness felt acutely poignant in that first moment of contact. I understood for the first time how fragile was this "invisible map Green had stitched together, how vulnerable the people for whom it was meant. Taylor and the librarians watched as I flipped through the books with what may have been slightly unprofessional glee. l'd handled rare books before, including a First F01i0 of William Shakespeare's plays that a Dartmouth librarian placed into my ungloved hands. I like rare bOOks even more than I like IHOP's powdered crepes; standing before the Gutenberg Bible orJOhn James Audubon's B ッホÄ襯 i is, for me, an 0 ancient sugar ofwhich there can be no excess. The Green B00 た isn't quite as rare or valuable as those volumes, yet there was a familiarity tO the booklets that multiplied their power. I wasn't just holding a rare book; I was holding a rare book that was American, beautifully and tragically SO. lt wasn t anywhere near 'What's exciting about literally did save lives. the G B00 々 is that it as hefty as a modern-day も 0 ケ刊 4 〃 . Despite some fine cover art, it lacked the modernist design elements イ 4 M taught us to prize. The Green B00 た couldn't afford any such flourishes, neither literally nor in the grander sense, because itS most basic m1SSion was tO ensure survival. 36 N E W 5 W E E K M A R C H 17 , 2 017