Relax. Reflect. Read.

As the Hawaii State Library celebrates 100 years this year, I wonder how many of us still take the time to read a book and for that matter, make use of public libraries?  I am guilty of this.

Growing up poor in the Philippines, I didn’t have access to many exciting books.  But my mother who believed in the importance of reading would borrow children’s books from our neighbors who could afford to buy American books.

Despite of my mother’s efforts though, during Intermediate School days my friends would be reading Nancy Drew and other teen book series and later love stories published by Mills & Boon Publishing but I didn’t—I thought how could something that’s full of words and no pictures be interesting?  It took an avid reader friend to convince me to at least try to read the introduction of a romance novel for me to like reading. 

I was hooked reading romance novels.  Soon my parents and I migrated to Hawaii.  When I found that Kalihi-Palama Public Library and Lilliha Public Library are in my neighborhood and they carried romance novels of the same authors as Mills & Boon’s authors, I was ecstatic.  My library card was comparable to a platinum charge card nowadays—I could borrow books I wanted at any time.  And if they didn’t have the particular book that I wanted, the Librarian could check the other public libraries in the island and in the following days, my copy was ready to be picked up!

Looking back, I think I kept myself from trouble because I was often hanging out at Kalihi-Palama Library.  My parents would still be working when classes end at Farrington High School so I’d go there and do my homework instead of going out with friends.  Well, for one thing I didn’t have extra money to play at the video game arcade and we also didn’t own encyclopedia and reference books.  The library is safe, clean, air-conditioned, has clean restrooms and all sorts of reference materials.  The “atmosphere” is for studying and doing schoolwork as oppose to going home wherein I may end up watching television, playing or sleeping.

These days, the Kalihi-Palama Public Library seems to have fewer regulars than what I used to remember back then.  In the morning you might find a group of toddlers enjoying the reading program, and a couple of retired people relaxing with a newspaper, magazine or a book.  In the afternoon there might be some young people brought by their parents and some teenagers completing their group school assignment.  I think with the popularity of PC and the Internet, less and less people go the library.  We seem to have to find a real purpose like when I had to find a place to seriously review for my nursing board exam for us to go there.

It’s now time to rediscover our community’s public libraries.  If these facilities are under used and government funds continue to get tight, they might as well be eliminated.

Here’s some reasons why we should support and enjoy our public libraries:

·      Great for studying—it’s is air-conditioned, it’s quiet, it has references, it has computers and/or you can use your own computer there

·      Great for research—besides the books and other reading materials and the use of computer with Internet connection, there’s the capable Librarian who can also assist you and everything is for FREE

·      Great services for the whole family—the Kalihi-Palama Public Library alone has a large Children Section and Young Adult Section, a Family Resource Center, and a large Korean Drama Section.  Some may have a Travel Passport processing section.  Public libraries lend books, CDs, DVDs, and audio books.

·      Great for relaxing and getting updated with current events by reading newspapers and magazines.

·      The Kalihi-Palama Public Library is one of the few with an Auditorium that can be rented by the public for meetings, seminars, and the like.

Kalihi-Palama Public Libray

1325 Kalihi Street

Honolulu, HI 96819

808-832-3466

The Kalihi-Palama Public Library serves the community from Kalihi Valley to Sand Island, and from Palama to Fort Shafter.  Schools include a college, 3 high schools, and 9 elementary schools.  The collection includes 64,000 volumes and reflects the needs of the community.