WAIMEA — Waimea Public Library Branch Manager Michelle Young read “Not A Box” by Antoinette Portis on Friday during the Waimea Public Library reopening celebration that was attended by special guestzs — Hawai‘i State Librarian Stacey Aldrich and Senate President Ron Kouchi.
The saga of Rabbit and his imagination that transformed an ordinary cardboard box in a variety of items ranging from a car to being atop a mountain, serves as an example of the variety of uses the newly renovated meeting room can serve.
After being closed for renovation work for the past 18 months, the Friday celebration marked the end of repair work and reopening of the library for its waiting and anxious fan base.
Aldrich did not have the dollar amount for the project readily available, but said the work involved making the parking lot and library more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and improving the meeting room for the community.
The meeting room improvements include the installation of a baby changing table in the meeting room bathroom, replacing the doors, installing new vinyl tile flooring, adding a new air conditioning unit, new furniture and repainting.
Young said it’s not just a meeting room. It can be a kitchen, a theatre and whatever your mind wants it to be.
During the closure, library patrons were accommodated by a pop-up library at the Community Science Center, which was operated by Sarah Styan in the Waimea Tech Center facility.
The blessing of the improved meeting room was officiated by Rev. Kohtoku Hirao, of the Waimea Shingon Mission, and Pastor Olaf Hoekmann-Percival, of the Waimea United Church of Christ.
Waimea Public Library is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from noon to 4 p.m., then again from 5 to 7 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon, and then from 1 to 4 p.m., and Friday hours are from noon to 4 p.m. The library is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
On Aug. 23 from 2 to 4 p.m., the Waimea Public Library will be hosting a Kaua‘i Community College Information Table with Education Specialist Rhonda Liu, who will be available to talk about more than 50 University of Hawai‘i online and hybrid degrees, and about available local support and connection with resources.
Information: librarieshawaii.org/branch/waimea-public-library, or call 808-338-6848.
