Telethon to Aid Library Hits $2-Million Mark

A nationwide telethon intended to raise $2 million to help restore the book collection at the Los Angeles Central Library reached its goal early Wednesday morning after 51 hours on the air.

There was bedlam in the Glendale studios of television preacher Gene Scott when the “Save the Books” pledge total hit $2,012,000 at 12:45 a.m. “People shouted and screamed and whistled,” a telethon spokesman said. “There was applause, applause, applause.”

The telethon, featuring music and celebrity testimonials, began at noon last Friday. But after the broadcast’s initial 24 hours, only $1 million had been pledged, prompting Scott to vow to continue the telethon until the $2-million figure had been reached.

Dinah Shore, Charlton Heston and former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown were among the notables seen on the air as the telethon continued in segments through the weekend.

Scott, a member of the blue-ribbon committee overseeing the fund-raising campaign, was praised later Wednesday for his efforts by the Save the Book campaign co-chairmen, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and Lodwrick M. Cook, chairman and chief executive officer of Atlantic Richfield Co.

At a ceremony at City Hall, Bradley called Scott “the man who made it happen.”

Bradley said some of the people with whom he chatted during the telethon “watch Gene Scott regularly and (they said), ‘This is the reason why we’re pledging.’ ”

Scott, pastor of the Hope Street Church, which is next door to the fire-ravaged library, donated his Glendale studios, volunteers and his cable TV network to broadcast the telethon nationwide. It was seen locally on Channels 30 and 56.

Before the telethon, $5.6 million had been raised to replace the books, magazines and valuable documents destroyed in two arson fires that hit the library last year. Campaign organizers hope to reach their $10-million goal by the end of this year.