Kapa‘a library accepts ‘banana bible’

KAPA‘A — Lani Kawahara, librarian at the Kapa‘a Public Library,  is thrilled with the quality of work and the profuse amount of photographs in “The World of Bananas in Hawai‘i: Then and Now.”

The Kapa‘a Public Library was chosen by the Hawai‘i Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG) to receive the recently published book by HTFG members and Maui residents Angela Kepler and Francis Rust.

The HTFG selected six libraries on the four major Hawaiian Islands to receive a copy of the book.

Elizabeth Ito, a North Shore farmer and vice president of the HTFG, said the Kapa‘a Public Library was selected from all of the libraries on Kaua‘i because a lot of the agricultural producers — more specifically, banana growers — live on Kaua‘i’s East Side and would have access to the book.

“This is the first book about bananas in Hawai‘i chock-full of original research,” Ken Love, HTFG president, said on the HTFG Facebook page.

“It traces the banana evolution around the Pacific. It is a banana bible.”

Published by Pali-O-Waipio Press, the banana book features 612 pages with 1,900 illustrations and contains pictoral descriptions for 140 living varieties and 22 kinship groups, the HTFG site states.

It also contains information on pesticide-free care and maintenance, nutritional deficiencies and troubleshooting pests and diseases.

 The book pulls together the results of more than 30 years of research in the Pacific area.

Love said the resource, with a retail price of $80, covers every banana in Hawai‘i plus Polynesian and international varieties.

The University of Hawai‘i Press is distributing the book for Pali-O-Waipio Press.

The university press  describes the volume as “the first book about bananas in Hawai‘i and a major contribution to Hawaiian culture.”

Visit the Kapa‘a Public Library to view the volume, or www.uhpress.hawaii.edu for more information.