Earthquake: The Long Road Back : Temblor Puts Valley Libraries in Another Bind

Already reeling from recent budget cuts, city libraries were severely pummeled by the powerful Northridge earthquake, which toppled bookshelves, broke windows and felled light fixtures and ceiling tiles in more than a dozen branches, and left three San Fernando Valley sites with structural damage and indefinite futures.

The Granada Hills, North Hollywood and Woodland Hills branches of the Los Angeles Public Library were hit hardest by the temblor, and deemed unsafe to enter by city officials. The three are closed indefinitely, pending further inspection and damage estimates, but library officials expect the closures could last more than six months.

County libraries also suffered in the quake, but only the Valencia branch in Santa Clarita will be closed for more than a few weeks. It may be closed as long as four months because of severe damage from flooding. The San Fernando Library and the Newhall Library will probably reopen early in February.

Citywide, five more libraries will reopen early next week, leaving 14 closed. Six of those suffered damage that will require extensive repairs. Libraries already were struggling to serve their communities, strained by more a 25% reduction in staff in the past three years, and a 25% reduction in materials in the last year. Now, with more than a dozen branches closed, including Granada Hills--the busiest of the city’s 64 libraries with more than a half-million in circulation annually--the task of providing library services is even more overwhelming.

“It’s devastating,” said Elizabeth Martinez, the city librarian. “It’s obviously going to affect service in the Valley.”

To ease the crunch caused by the indefinite closures of the busy branches, library officials plan to extend hours at other sites, using staff members from the closed branches to fill the gaps. But library users who have materials checked out from the damaged buildings should keep them--without accruing fines--until their own branch reopens, said Robert Reagan, a library spokesman.

This week, the library foundation donated $100,000 for cleanup and minor repairs of the less badly damaged libraries. Officials also are hoping to receive funds from the federal government and private citizens to cover more extensive rebuilding.

“When we had two branches burned in the riots, we raised $900,000 to replace them,” Reagan said. “Of course we are concerned. But we’re not going to keel over.”

Not far from the Granada Hills branch, in Porter Ranch, Reagan’s optimism took the form of a groundbreaking Thursday for a new library--one of three Valley branches expected to be open by the summer of 1995.

“You have to expect the fiscal picture to improve,” Martinez said. “You have to believe in the future.”

In addition to the Los Angeles County and city libraries damaged, Burbank and Glendale libraries also had their share of toppled shelves and interior damage. This week, Burbank reopened its central library and its Buena Vista branch and will open its Northwest branch Monday after shelving books and clearing ceiling debris knocked loose in the quake.

In Glendale, two of five branches, the Chevy Chase Library and the Brand Park Library, remain closed to the public.