Vacant Kapolei Library
will open reading room

---

By Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com

A reading room and bookstore, featuring donated books and a volunteer staff, will open two days a week at Kapolei Library starting in March, according to Board of Education member Carol Gabbard.

The library has stood empty since it was completed about a year ago, because not enough money was appropriated for books and staff.

It is supposed to open officially in December if the Legislature comes through with the funding.

In the meantime, Gabbard is rounding up books and volunteers for the reading room, which will be organized and staffed entirely by volunteers.

State Librarian Virginia Lowell said the library will begin accepting donated books in a few weeks, because a staff member will be available part-time as part of efforts to gear up for the library's opening. Lowell said the library had not been able to accept donations previously because it did not have a secure place to keep materials or staff to handle them.

The librarian will review donated books and determine which ones belong in Kapolei's permanent collection.

Books that do not go into the collection will be put into the reading room at the library.

Community members may borrow those books or buy them, with the proceeds going toward purchase of new books for the library.