GENEVIEVE A. SUZUKI / GSUZUKI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Children's librarian Cheryl Robinson helped Jefferson Elementary School students Benson Leung, left, and Channel Tang Ho with their math homework on Thursday at the Waikiki-Kapahulu Public Library.
The Waikiki-Kapahulu Library has grown since it was a three-room cottage on the grounds of Jefferson Elementary School. Waikiki library
marks 50th yearTechnology changes but the charm
endures at the site that serves
residents and touristsBy Genevieve A. Suzuki
gsuzuki@starbulletin.com
It has 22,002 regular borrowers, 50,357 books and an average of 3,798 users a week -- users like Jefferson Elementary School students Benson Leung and Dylan Dobson.
Leung, 9, said he likes coming to the library because "you can do your homework quietly," and Dobson, also 9, added: "And you have more books."
The Waikiki-Kapahulu Public library celebrated its 50th birthday yesterday.
In 1948, the territorial Legislature allocated $240,000 so that the library could move to a site at the corner of Kapahulu Avenue and Ala Wai Boulevard. It opened in 1952.
"We have a lot of windows," said branch manager Stephanie Strickland. "Most libraries don't have a lot of windows."
The cathedral windows, along with its original Waianae sandstone columns, fish mobiles and beach-house colors of white and aqua, lend the library its unique oceanside appeal.
And it was the library's bougainvillea-covered outdoor reading area that attracted San Francisco multimillionaire Kenneth Holfman, who left about $1.5 million when he died in 1998 to both the Waikiki-Kapahulu branch and the main library, said Cheryl Robinson, the children's librarian.
The library used more than $100,000 of Holfman's donation for renovations to make the facility accessible to people with disabilities, refinishing the koa tables and replacing chairs.
Library technician Janet Kami can remember when it seemingly took forever to file books in the days before automation.
"When I first started, there were no computers, card catalogs, everything," said Kami, who has been with the Waikiki-Kapahulu Library since the mid-1970s. "Everything was done by hand. It was tedious.
"When the patrons say, 'You should go back to the card catalogues,' we say, 'Uh-uhh,'" Kami said shaking her head "no."
Waikiki-Kapahulu library employees have recognized for years that because of their location, many of their patrons are tourists.
"We get some tourists; we have families, moms, dad and kids; and then retired people," said library assistant Ken Eiland. "It's just a small, little neighborhood library."
The tourist population splits into two groups: Tourists who are here for a brief period and part-time residents who come to Hawaii for months at a time.
"A lot of people, when they travel, one of the first things they look for is a library because they want to check their e-mail," Robinson said.
Strickland said they've gotten to know several of their tourist patrons. "We look forward to seeing them," she said.
The children's section of the library boasts its original koa reading station, several kid-sized tables and chairs beneath large picture windows and an atlas station created especially for children.
Jefferson student Channey Tang Ho said she and her twin sister, Channel, began coming to the library last week. "I'm gonna come here everyday," she vowed.
Eiland is surprised more people don't feel that way.
For instance, the library only charges $1 a week for video and DVD rental, Eiland said.
"The neat thing is you can come to the library, and if you see a video in Lahaina you want, you can request it," Eiland said. "This is one of our most little-known resources that this community has that they've already been paying for through taxes."
State of Hawaii
