GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, left, Hamilton Library librarian Diane Perushek, the Rev. Kordell Kekoa and University of Hawaii Chancellor Peter Englert untied a maile lei yesterday during ceremonies marking the official reopening of Hamilton Library.

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UH main library reopens

Students and faculty can
enter the building, although
repairs are still needed

After millions of dollars of cleanup work since the Oct. 30 Manoa flood, University of Hawaii students and faculty can once again enter the main Hamilton Library building.

Because the fire alarm system doesn't work, security guards are on patrol on the upper floors, armed with air horns to let patrons know if they need to evacuate.

Students and faculty are handed a yellow paper outlining emergency procedures when they enter and urged to limit their time on the second through fifth floors.

After a ceremony yesterday to mark the reopening, UH Chief of Staff Sam Callejo said this week marks a milestone in the recovery from the flood. However, it will take years and an estimated $15 million to $20 million before the building is fully repaired.

Callejo also estimated that $25 million worth of books and documents were destroyed by the flooding.

Insurance will pay for some of the rebuilding and book replacement. Callejo said the university expects to reach an agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency by the end of the week on money for some of the damage.

The Legislature is also being asked to help pay for repairs.

Hamilton Library had the worst damage of any building on campus, Callejo said.

The basement of the building, where most of the flooding occurred, is still closed. Maps, documents and a few rare books salvaged from the mud are still being rehabilitated on the mainland.

The electrical system for the building will have to be replaced.

For now, electrical power comes from a large, white portable generator parked on Maile Way. But the air conditioning is just as freezing as before.

"I forgot how cold it was," said graduate philosophy student Andrew Lambert.

Lambert said he liked the temporary system of the last few months, when library staff fetched books for students from the closed stacks. But he understands how they may have better things to do.

The important thing is that the university has a top-notch library again, he said.

After months of studying in the cramped Hamilton annex, student Alex Zamora said the reopened library is "freedom."

Karen Peacock, the Pacific curator of the Hawaiian and Pacific collection at Hamilton, said it will take years to replace the approximately 8,000 items lost from the collection.

"We're beginning, but we've got a long way to go," she said.