Filling the Void : While the quake closed many libraries, Pages Bookstore in Tarzana and the Gene Autry museum are still planning programs for Black History Month.

Bookstore owner Darlene Daniel has witnessed firsthand the growing interest in African American history and culture. When she opened her Tarzana children’s bookstore a decade ago, the black history books she carried were almost considered a novelty by patrons. Today, they are essential for a complete bookstore, she says.

“There’s a perception that still lingers that the Valley is anti-African American, but it’s just not true,” says Daniel, owner of Pages Bookstore. “I have to tell you that people from all cultures were interested in these books from the very beginning, and now that more books are available, the interest is growing quite a bit. I’ve seen interest from all parts of the Valley and from many different backgrounds.”

Though the Northridge earthquake eliminated many of the school and library programs planned this month in the San Fernando Valley in honor of Black History Month, such places as Pages and the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum are filling the void.

Hundreds of local schoolchildren are scheduled to attend events during class time at both locations.

When asked about Black History Month programs in the local libraries, Michaella Johnson, who is coordinating the Valley Bookmobile, said: “All the libraries have been shut down in order that books can be put back on the shelves, and certainly not all of the libraries will even be open. . . . Virtually all of the scheduled events for February have been canceled.”

Even if the city’s mobile library is Valley residents’ only access to books, Johnson says she is certain it will offer displays and story readings this month specifically geared to black history.

Due to the lack of library programs, Daniel has felt the burden shifting to her bookstore. Despite damage there, Daniel says her customers are clamoring to have regularly scheduled storytelling sessions again.

“People are calling and saying they want things to return to normal, and especially, the children miss the story times,” she says. “It’s a good time to introduce different cultures and new ideas that will pique their imaginations through stories.”

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Daniel has invited New York author and illustrator Brian Pinkney, who will read and draw during an energetic discussion about his most recent book, “Max Found Two Sticks,” (Simon and Schuster, 1994.) The talk will be geared to children 5 to 8. Pinkney has illustrated other African American historical books, such as a biography of Alvin Ailey and “Seven Candles for Kwanzaa,” a book about the Christmastime celebration.

“Max Found Two Sticks” is a lyrical story involving a boy who taps out sounds with two tree twigs. Pinkney draws in a unique scratchboard style, and Daniel says his books are popular because he portrays truthful, not stereotypical, images of black life.

For the entire month, the Autry museum is displaying four bronze sculptures by an African American former astronaut, Ed Dwight, whose work interprets ethnic soldiers, cowboys and settlers.

In addition, the museum promises the most extensive lecture series about minority settlement in the West ever presented locally, says Mary Ann Ruelas, assistant director of programs for the museum. “All of our lecturers for February are widely sought after,” she says.

“African American history is part of the West, so it is part of our mission and goal to get that information out to the public,” Ruelas says. “And personally, I see a greater awareness of personal heritage and a need to explore it.”

Children will be able to meet rodeo cowboy Wayne Orme and practice roping a simulated bull at the museum.

The Autry museum will also present Mike Mann from BEAT radio and his cowboy soul band, “Mike Mann and the Nightriders,” in a program with artist Clyde Williams and actor Kane Holliday.

The documentary “Buffalo Soldiers,” about all-black infantry and cavalry in the early 1870s, will be screened five times.

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U.S. soldiers could escape everyday prejudice and get a good-paying job in the Army. “Ironically,” Ruelas says, “despite worse conditions than the general Army, their desertion rate was less than anywhere else in the military.”

Fred Jones, 77, who was a member of the 10th Cavalry in the 1940s, plans to re-create an actual camp setting. Youths will be able to wear cavalry uniforms and make shoulder ribbons for them.

Other projects will range from banging conga drums and bongos to making bandannas.

The Month’s Highlights

Events celebrating Black History Month (all are free unless noted):

* Ed Dwight sculpture exhibit, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Mondays at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, Griffith Park, 4700 Western Heritage Way. $7 general, $5 seniors and students with ID, $3 children, 2 to 12. (213) 667-2000.

* African American Stories and Crafts, 11 a.m. to noon every Saturday in February, for ages 8 to 11. Pages Bookstore, 18399 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana. (818) 34-BOOKS.

* “Now I Am 2” Finger Plays and Music Group, 10:30 a.m. Feb. 16, for ages 2 and 3 at Pages.

* Youth Drumming and Rhythm Workshop, Part 1, 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, ages 5 and older. $15. Autry museum.

* Buffalo Soldier Scales features authentic cavalry uniforms that children can wear, and for which they can create scales, the shoulder-ribbons, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Heritage Court of the Autry museum.

* “In Search of a Racial Frontier: An Overview of the Black West,” a lecture and visuals by Quintard Taylor, 2 p.m. Saturday at the Wells Fargo Theater, Autry museum.

* Brian Pinkney, author and illustrator, 10 a.m. Tuesday at Pages.

* “Buffalo Soldiers,” a documentary about the all-black infantry and cavalry in the 1970s, screens at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 12, 13, 20, 21 and 27, Autry museum.

* “Buffalo Soldiers: Then and Now,” a lecture by Fred Jones, a 10th Cavalry veteran, and re-creation of a camp site, for ages 8 and older, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 12, $15, Autry museum.

* “Western Towns for Blacks,” a lecture by Kenneth M. Hamilton, 2 p.m. Feb. 12, Autry museum.

* Youth Drumming and Rhythm Workshop, Part 2, 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 19, ages 5 and older. $15. Autry museum.

* “Black America and the California Dream,” a lecture by Lonnie Bunch, 2 p.m. Feb. 19, Autry museum.

* “Black San Francisco: The Struggle for Racial Equality in the West from 1900 to 1954,” a lecture by Albert Broussard, 2 p.m. Feb. 26, Autry museum.

* “Legacy of the Black Cowboy,” crafts and roping instruction by Wayne Orme, for children of all ages, 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 26. $15. Autry museum.

* Wells Fargo Story Time featuring Mike Mann from BEAT radio, who will tell stories and perform with his cowboy soul band, noon, Feb. 26, $5. Autry museum.