NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Final Touches Put to Damaged Public Library

A small boy--6, maybe 7 years old--tried to peer through the wrought-iron gates into the North Hollywood branch of the Los Angeles Public Library earlier this week.

“Can I come in and check out books yet? Please? Ma’am?” the child asked from beneath thick brown bangs.

The doors to the library were wide open, allowing the April winds to rustle through the throngs of workers and the stacks of books they were busily readying for patrons like the child at the door. But the old-fashioned outer doors, the wrought-iron gates pedestrians tried to peer through daily, remained securely padlocked.

Not for much longer, though. On Monday, the North Hollywood Regional Library, the last of the earthquake-damaged branches to remain closed, will reopen.

During its 15-month closure, the library has overcome more than the structural damage caused by the Northridge quake.

While contractors concocted a special epoxy to glue the support columns and archways back together, workers used the closure to bring the library up to standard in other ways.

New lights were installed. Air-conditioning and heating were upgraded. The first carpets were laid in the building, which was erected in 1929. And electrical upgrades now accommodate an extensive computerization project, including a four-station homework center.

“We have become specialists at making the most out of disasters,” joked Bob Reagan, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Public Library system, whose Central Library in Downtown Los Angeles was rebuilt and expanded after the old building was heavily damaged in two 1986 fires.

Indeed, library officials say, the earthquake may have been the best thing to happen to the North Hollywood branch since it opened.

“It got us adopted,” Branch Librarian Harriet Newton said, exuding a sheepish excitement.

The Adopt-A-Branch program instituted by a library foundation is designed to augment the budget of the library with corporate or private contributions.

Many of the improvements in the North Hollywood branch, including all costs related to the homework center, were funded by MCA/Universal, which has adopted the library for three years with a contribution of $150,000.

“MCA liked the idea of helping make us better than we were before,” Reagan said, adding that the media conglomerate, based in Universal City, considers the North Hollywood branch to be its neighborhood library.

“That is one of the advantageous things that disasters do for us,” Reagan said.

“It draws attention to both the needs of the library system and the very real, very important role a library plays in a community.”

The reopening ceremony and celebration will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at the library, 5211 Tujunga Ave.