Aerospace Firm to Defrost Wet, Frozen Library Books

An Orange County aerospace company said Friday that it is donating its space simulation chamber and the volunteer efforts of some of its employees to defrost the first 20,000 water-damaged books that were frozen after the April 29 fire at the Los Angeles Central Library.

McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. in Huntington Beach will begin the weeklong defrosting process today, placing the books inside its 39-foot-wide chamber, which is normally used to test satellites and other space vehicles under various atmospheric conditions.

The Los Angeles City Council accepted the offer Friday, agreeing to hold the company harmless in case any damage occurs.

Library officials are planning to seek bids for the multimillion-dollar job of defrosting about 700,000 water-damaged books and cleaning another 600,000 books that suffered smoke damage. The drying is expected to be done in a vacuum chamber like that at McDonnell Douglas, with moisture pumped out slowly.

Kelly Hawkes, a spokeswoman for McDonnell Douglas, said the books--currently being kept in cold-storage warehouses--will remain in cardboard boxes when they are moved into the chamber in an effort to limit damage that might occur while handling.

“The big question is how well the books can be dried if they are kept in the boxes,” she said, adding that normally books are taken out of the boxes for drying.