The Campaign for America's Libraries

Author Blaine Harden expresses his affinity for libraries in this interview.

Harden, who grew up in small towns in Washington State, “There just wasn’t much culture at all. If I wanted culture outside of my house, it was really the only place to go."

When growing up in Moses lake and Aberdeen, Harden said, he would go to the library nearly every day, because, "It was the only place whre I could find interesting stuff to think about."

Harden said the library system where he lives, in Seattle, is terrific. He said it does not take long to get a book to be sent to his local branch, and he can also download ebooks.

Harden spoke out strongly against the banning of books, noting that he writes about a country, North Korea, that bans all books except those that are good for the regime.

"A good library is something that would in many ways destroy that regime. There are a lot of incendiary ideas you can find in libraries," he said.

Harden’s most recent book is Escape From Camp 14.

According to his website, it is the story of Shin Dong-hyuk, the only person born in a North Korean prison camp to escape to the West. It was the subject of a segment on 60 Minutes and has been translated into 24 languages.

It won the 2112 Grand Prix de la Biographie Politique, a French literary award.

He is working on a second book about North Korea and contributes to Foreign Policy, PBS Frontline and The Economist.

Harden worked for The Washington Post as a correspondent in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as in New York and Seattle. He was also a national correspondent for The New York Times and writer for the Times Magazine.

He lives in Seattle with his wife Jessica and their two children, Lucinda and Arno.