Updated iPhoto to 9.2.3, lost majority of photos - help!

We updated iPhoto as recommended by Apple to version 9.2.3 and immediately had trouble with no photos showing in iPhoto.  The photo folder on the Mac drive is empty, and was the primary location for storing and accessing photos. After finding the iPhoto backup library on the My Book external drive, I imported and only recovered 1,000 of 10,000+ photos. The recovery files are dated with photos from 2005 - 2009, and nothing from 2010 to present.  It also required me to update the iPhoto library file upon import, something which I expected would automatically occur as part of the application update. 
I am running an  iMac with OS X 10.6.8.
Already tried to rebuild the library by launching iPhoto and holding command/option.  No new files were recovered. Any tips/advice is much appreciated to help recover 4 years of family memories!
Frustrating to see the continued degradation of Apple's competive advantage: seamless interoperability and ease of use.  The iphone synch with itunes is a whole other discussion...
Thanks,
Scott

Terrence: thanks for taking the time to reply. Here are replies to your questions:
Pictures folder = yes
Back up historically performed manually to My Book. 
Wife performed the iPhoto update yesterday and did not back up prior to update.
Why did you not restore? = new version of iPhoto not able to find or recognize the iPhoto library on the Mac drive. When launching iPhoto application after the update, and the application is attempting to pull from the Mac drive database, it is a never ending spinning wheel of white dashes as if searching but never finding.
Why import from the backup? = Since no photos will load from the Mac drive database, I attempted to restore from the backup on My Book as the source
Clarify the 'update the iPhoto library file' = when attempting to import the iPhoto library backup file from My Book (after the above sequence and failing in attempts to load from the Mac picture database), iPhoto required the My Book iPhoto library file to be updated, or reconfigured (can't confirm the exact language here), before proceeding.  It was definitely a separate prompt and process from the app update.
Why are you mentioning crash reports when there is no mention of crashes? = after the initial post, I went back to my attempts to relaunch iPhoto and it crashed multiple times. Thought I would add in this thread (10 minutes later) in case it was helpful to someone assisting to resolve these issues.
Certainly not looking to editorialize, but I've been using Mac products since the Apple IIe.  By no means an expert, as you can see by my problems here , but the reality is that the proliferation of peripherals makes it increasingly challenging for the average tech user to navigate compatibility, synching devices, etc.  Heck, I had to spend $1,500 on a new iMac just to get my iPad funcational a couple of years ago (my Mac Mini didn't support a current OS to run an iTunes version needed to activate the iPad).
Not hating, I'm an unabashed Mac lover (9 devices and growing).  Also not ignorant to the challenges that developers and us 'tech users' face in the real world.
Thanks and again I truly appreciate your input!
-sw

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