Library Planning

[viviansuet]

HSPLS TO HOST NEW PUNA LIBRARY FOCUS GROUP MEETING

As part of the planning phase for a new library in Puna, Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) will be hosting a focus group meeting at the Pahoa Community Center (15-2910 Puna Road, Pahoa) on October 27, 2015 at 6-8 pm.

During the 2014 Legislative Session, $800,000 was allocated to the planning and design of a new library in Puna. The aim of the meeting is to seek input from the community regarding what is needed and wanted in the new library space. All are welcome and encouraged to attend!

Please RSVP to m.chang@capitol.hawaii.gov or call 808-586-6890.

[viviansuet]

HSPLS TO HOST NEW PUNA LIBRARY FOCUS GROUP MEETING
As part of the planning phase for a new library in Puna, Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) will be hosting a focus group meeting at the Pahoa Community Center (15-2910 Puna Road, Pahoa) on October 27, 2015 at 6-8 pm.
During the 2014 Legislative Session, $800,000 was allocated to the planning and design of a new library in Puna. The aim of the meeting is to seek input from the community regarding what is needed and wanted in the new library space. All are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Please RSVP to m.chang@capitol.hawaii.gov or call 808-586-6890. This email was sent to wwalter@whshipman.com

[viviansuet]

Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2015 18:11:24 +0000
Subject: Puna Regional Library
Aloha and Puna Uka / Mauka,
Need your help again to help ourselves.
As you may have been following the news over a period of time and noted that the Hawaii State Legislature through the efforts of Senator Russell Ruderman has gotten a commitment from the legislature to invest $36,000,000 to build a Regional Library here in Puna.
The original location was going to be somewhere in Pahoa but because of the recent lava threat to the area location to build the library has not been decided.
It was recently brought to my attention that the legislative library committee will be coming to Hawaii island soon and want to evaluate 5 proposed locations for our library that have solid infrastructure.
A group of community members approached the W.H. Shipman Ltd. company in Keaau and requested a meeting recently to discuss the issue.
We were happy and surprised because we were able to get a verbal commitment from Bill Walters the President of Shipman corporation to donate the necessary land with infrastructure in Keaau next to the Shipman Park near the Keaau Shopping Center.

As you may agree the placement of the new Regional Library in a central location like Keaau is ideal and a win win for ALL of Puna.
Please contact your state legislators and county representatives in your district and let them know how you feel asap.
Senator Russell Ruderman - 808-586-6890
Representative Richard Onshi - 808- 586-6120
Mayor Billy Kenoi - 808-961-8211
Councilman Daniel Paleka - 808- 961-8263
Councilman Dennis Onishi - 808- 961-8396
Councilwomen Maile Daivd - 808-323-4277

Please pass this information on to others in the Puna district.

[viviansuet]

Agree Keaau is a central location.
Please do represent Strongly the community's interest in the lease agreement with Shipman,
Recent renewals of old long time leases- (30 years),
has Shipman raising rents and imposing tougher restrictions of activities and uses.
99 + year lease minimum, with that much taxpayers money going to fund it !
36 million....? could buy land...?
36 million for building fund, what about operations funding...?
Yes, a library is that important !
Educational materials and information for All - Rich or Poor.

[kalakoa]

Massive air-conditioned infrastructure (burdening "future generations" with expensive maintenance) to host a repository of knowledge printed on dead trees ... seems very 18th-century when technology allows the delivery of e-books over a global Internet.

[Radiopeg]

I agree that we need a location more central to the rest of Puna. Kea'au seems a fair location, but leased land might not be the best choice. Libraries are important. Not all information is digital. The services that Librarians provide are an asset to our community.

Peace and long life

[kalakoa]

The services that Librarians provide are an asset to our community.

...and these services absolutely require a $36M building, with maintenance and support staff? I'm not convinced.

[pahoated]

quote:

---

Originally posted by viviansuet
As you may have been following the news over a period of time and noted that the Hawaii State Legislature through the efforts of Senator Russell Ruderman has gotten a commitment from the legislature to invest $36,000,000 to build a Regional Library here in Puna.

---

36M? Also, that is not the way funding works. Commitment makes no sense. It was either allocated or disbursed. It doesn't show up in the 2015 CIP. That makes sense if the planning and design money was made available last year, can't make any estimate until that is done. $36M sounds especially grandiose considering it was originally for Pahoa. It sounds like they are taking inputs to begin the planning stage, so building funds can be requested in the 2016 legislature. Then a levy every year to keep it going?

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

[kalakoa]

Then a levy every year to keep it going?

Probably; I've seen this one before. Library construction is easily justified when the money is good, maintenance proves a huge burden afterwards. When the economy slows down, the library is one of the first things to get cut -- it's not as "important" as police/fire/roads/etc -- at which point the "concerned public" lobbies for an extra property tax levy to keep the library open ("because culture", or "for the children", etc).

Libraries also function as "community meeting places". I think several such "public halls" (with high-speed internet instead of books) could be built for the same money, and the public would probably get more use out of these. Big power bills for climate-controlled book vaults (fighting tropical humidity with expensive oil-fired electricity) seems like a very poor investment by comparison.

[pahoated]

This is the 2014 CIP with the funding for the Pahoa library planning and design. This money went to the county planning department, they have somebody assigned to it, and they will be contracting this out to some contractor. Looking at the CIP, is it any wonder that construction is the fourth largest employer on this island, after government, resorts, and retail stores.
http://hawaiihouseblog.blogspot.com/2014...d-gia.html

With transparent roll-up displays on the way:
http://www.rantgizmo.com/2015/09/22/tech...e-oled-tv/

Google scanning millions of books:
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/10/cop...air-use/#_

Building gigantic climate controlled paper book storage buildings is very similar to increasing buggy whip production and blacksmithing as the first Model-T's came off the production line, and building another slide rule manufacturing plant as the first electronic calculators started showing up.

It's odd, public libraries are seen as the sources of knowledge, yet they are becoming obsolete themselves. The people involved should be well aware of technology developments but often choose to retreat to the past.

There are all kinds of problems getting this project to go through to completion. It can easily end up being another one of the almost innumerable studies and plans that go on around here. One thing that happens with these studies and plans is they are so numerous, nobody follows them. A few people get cash in their pockets, put out some report, excuse themselves for a much needed vacation, never come back and things are totally forgotten, usually ending up being some website that hasn't been updated in a decade. At least it has laugh value.

$36M would be enough to either run telephone or cable to every house in Puna, occupied or not. With around 45,000 population, many are households that only need one run. Many others already have some bandwidth. With the remainder of the money, which should be a lot, then subsidize top tier 100mbps for 3 years.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"