The Library Brigades

Disaster can bring out the best in people, and the catastrophic fire at the Los Angeles central library has already demonstrated that principle.

First, there was the steady, calm professionalism of the Los Angeles Fire Department as its members snaked through narrow passages to find and fight the blaze. It was the worst library fire in American history, and many firefighters consider it the worst structural fire they’ve ever fought.

Then there was the remarkable outpouring of public sentiment--and, more tangible, volunteer workers--to help salvage books last weekend. Some 1,500 people put on their old clothes and physically paid off what many of them considered an overdue debt to the library for the information and enjoyment it had long provided them.

Now there is the generous gift of $2 million from the J. Paul Getty Trust to help rebuild the central library’s book collection. Getty money is generally identified in the public mind with art acquisitions, but this bequest illuminates the trust’s broader interest in preserving many elements of civilization’s heritage as well as a touch of old-fashioned hometown commitment.

Ten times the amount of the Getty gift will be needed before the library can replace those parts of its collection that are even replaceable.

Mayor Tom Bradley encourages gifts of all sizes; checks made out to “Library” should be sent to the Mayor’s Office, City Hall, Room 305, Los Angeles, Ca. 90012. A gift to a library helps preserve the past and present and enlighten the future.