A new read on an old concept

Bestsellers tries an old-fashioned library concept at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

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Bestsellers Books & Music is trying out a retail twist on the good old neighborhood lending library -- except that the neighborhood is the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa.

The Ohana Library and Reading Room opened its doors earlier this week, offering the public and visitors books on loan for up to seven days.

Chief Executive Officer Brian Melzack said it's a new amenity for the resort, which he hopes eventuallly to spread to other hotel chains.

The concept is simple -- all books, some 3,500 titles in all, are on loan in exchange for credit card information. If the borrower wants to keep a book, or just fails to return it on time, then the retail price will be charged to the card.

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Bestsellers Books & Music owner Brian Melzack is confident that he's onto a new concept in the bookselling business that's going to succeed.

Ohana Library & Reading Room Where: Hilton Hawaiian Village, Alii Court Phone: (808) 945-0550 Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily Source: Bestsellers

It's actually an update of a phenomenon that dates back to the 1950s, he said, when some corner drug stores kept small lending libraries.

The Ohana Library & Reading Room, which opened its doors Thursday at the the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa, will offer at least 3,500 book titles, including an extensive collection of Hawaiian literature, along with the top nation's top 10 newspapers and 100 magazines.

Hundreds of titles will be available from the University of Hawaii Press, Bishop Museum Press and Island Heritage.

Measuring 1,800 square feet, the Ohana Library will also offer comfortable armchairs, ottomans, coffee tables, and an area for games. Nightly entertainment will include guest lectures and music.

Melzack says it's a guest-amenity concept he hopes to test out and take to other hotel chains.

"We turned the clock back," said Melzack. "We created this environment, wrote up a business plan and looked for a partner. With Hilton, they fell in love with it and said, 'Let's do it.'"

There will be no membership requirements or fees for the Ohana Library. The public is welcome to walk in, browse, and borrow books for up to seven days.

To borrow a book, you must provide credit card information, and if you fail to return it on time, then you will be charged for it. You can choose to buy the book as well.

If a book is damaged -- say, it fell into the ocean at the beach or you spilled some ketchup on it -- then Melzack will offer it for 50 percent off the retail price.

Melzack's theory is that at least half of the borrowers are going to buy their books.

"I've been in the business for a long time, and the book business has changed dramatically over the years," said Melzack, "particularly with the Internet and big chains like Borders."

Smaller book retailers have been squeezed, said Melzack, who was the former CEO of Toronto-based Classic Bookshops, a chain of 150 book stores in Canada and the U.S. before he launched Bestsellers in Hawaii in 1998.

But now it's time to offer the lending library again, he said, returning a bookstore's roots to the community.

The concept is a great one if properly promoted, said Doug Smoyer of Retail Strategies. "People have know about it for it to survive," said Smoyer, noting that the Hilton resort has five or six different shopping areas.

The Ohana Library should complement an existing Bestsllers store at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Melzak says. Having recently closed its Hawaii Kai store, Bestsellers currently has four locations -- one in downtown Honolulu, one at the Hilton and two at Honolulu International Airport.