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by the HLA Community Engagement Committee Promoting the freedom to read lies at the heart of every library’s mission. This principle ensures that people of all ages and backgrounds can explore ideas, encounter new perspectives, and find stories that reflect and expand upon their own experiences.
Each year, Banned Books Week (BBW) elevates and celebrates our freedom to read and invites us to reflect on the harms of censorship. BBW brings together librarians, educators, writers, publishers, and readers to affirm that access to stories/ideas is essential to a healthy and democratic society. HLA is proud to contribute to BBW 2025 through two initiatives that uplift local voices and emphasize our commitment to intellectual freedom. Video Series Featuring Local Leaders HLA invited a range of local voices to share short personal reflections on why they believe intellectual freedom should be cherished and defended. Among those who shared statements are:
These snapshots will be shared publicly through HLA’s social media channels during Banned Books Week 2025, and underscore the power of diverse perspectives in resisting censorship. We invite you to view these stories via this HLA Youtube channel playlist. Community Reflections on Padlet HLA has also launched “Why I Read Freely” via Padlet, a digital wall of voices that gathers local insights from community members. Contributors can respond to prompts like:
About Banned Books Week Banned Books Week was started in 1982 by Judith F. Krug of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, in coalition with publishers, booksellers, and writers’ organizations. The annual event, observed nationally this year from October 5-11, draws attention to ongoing/increasing challenges to books in classrooms and libraries – many of which are related to race, gender, sexuality, history, etc. These attempts to censor undermine the core tenets of a civilized and educated society, and are ultimately attempts to silence voices, restrict perspectives, and narrow our understanding of the multi-faceted world we live in. Standing Together for Intellectual Freedom By encouraging curiosity, dialogue, and access to diverse viewpoints, Hawai‘i’s librarians and information professionals ensure that our libraries remain places where everyone can learn and explore without fear of restriction. HLA extends a heartfelt mahalo to all who continue to champion these values, in small or large ways, and to those who contributed to our BBW initiatives this year. Together, we celebrate not only the books themselves, but the essential freedom to seek and share the ideas that define who we are as a collective, diverse community. As a community, we are free to read and we are free to think. Let’s continue to protect that freedom for all, remembering that “Free People Read Freely.” With aloha - HLA’s Community Engagement Committee
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by Ellen-Rae Cachola The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library and Information Science (LIS) program is part of the School of Communication and Information (SCI). The SCI held their open house on April 11, 2025 to introduce visitors and guests to the disciplines within this school, situated in the College of Social Sciences. It was a day of intriguing mini workshops covering Communication, Journalism, Library and Information Science, and Peace and Conflict Resolution.
The University of Hawaiʻi’s Library and Information Science Program is well-positioned in this new School of Communication and Information. Library Sciences brings a unique lens with its focus on physical and digital stores of both historical and current data, knowledge, and wisdom and how best to preserve and make accessible these invaluable resources today and for future generations. In addition, the library field faces challenges similar to other communications disciplines, including rampant misinformation and emerging technologies like AI. For example, school librarians are working hard at teaching children how to identify misinformation and avoid being misled. By working alongside the disciplines of communication, journalism, and peace and conflict resolution, library science students, faculty, and researchers can engage in relevant dialogue on how information is disseminated and experienced in different contexts. Together these disciplines will find new ways to address our shared challenges. We wish the LIS Program an exciting chapter of learning and scholarship ahead!
Statement on the firing of Carla Hayden and HLA's Concerns about Hawaiʻi's Shifting Landscape5/15/2025 by The HLA Board HLA is concerned about the firing of Dr. Carla Hayden by the current Administration. Dr. Hayden was the first African American Librarian of Congress, who was hired in 2016. She was targeted by a conservative group for circulating what they called “radical” perspectives. But Hayden connected her purpose at the Library of Congress as an opportunity to represent broader views of history and knowledge, as a descendant of African Americans. Moreover, Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights, was also dismissed. Her office played a vital role in guiding the nation’s understanding of artificial intelligence and intellectual property. These acts resonate with the firing of Dr. Colleen Shogan, the National Archivist of the U.S., earlier this year. HLA is concerned about the firing of qualified information professionals from the highest library and archival institutions in the U.S. These professions require a high degree of professional ethics and neutrality in their practice in order to protect intellectual freedom and public trust in government.
Meanwhile, we are seeing efforts to dismantle the Institute for Library and Museum Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities. These actions are already impacting us at the state level. Next Steps What can you do now? By May 16, we encourage you to write or call our Congressional Delegation to press for 2026 federal funding for public and school libraries. This resource, the Dear Appropriator Letter to fund libraries for FY 2026, will help you speak up for 2026 funding for the Library Services and Technology Act and the Innovative Approaches to Libraries grants. Share how your library is an invaluable resource for our community. Next, if you want to know what is being done locally, join the online HLA Spring Meeting on Saturday May 31, 2025 from 11-3pm. This will be an opportunity to discuss these issues with our community. By sharing our experiences from different vantage points, we can find the hope in one another to move forward as a profession. ʻAʻohe hana nui ke alu ʻia. No task is too big when done together by all. Hawaiʻi's Shifting Landscape We also witness the local impacts of the shifts in current federal priorities and want to highlight how Hawaiʻi librarians and supporters are responding.
-Hawaiʻi Library Association Board by Kelly Campbell March 21, 2025
Hawaiʻi Library Association P.O. Box 4441 Honolulu, HI 96812-4441 Aloha e Senators Schatz and Hirono and Representatives Case and Tokuda, On behalf of the Hawaiʻi Library Association, we are writing to urge you to strongly oppose any efforts to dismantle the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). On Friday night, March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order intended to dismantle the IMLS. For Hawaiʻi, the resulting loss of programs supported by IMLS would have a direct adverse impact on communities throughout the state, disproportionately harming children, seniors, job seekers, and students who rely on an array of free library services. Libraries are vital hubs for lifelong learning, workforce development, and community programming. The grants provided by the IMLS help libraries expand their digital resources, support early childhood literacy programs, and offer job training initiatives that empower individuals seeking employment. Each year, states receive critical funding through the Library Services and Technology Act – Grants to States. Hawaiʻi receives about $1.5M each year. Hawaiʻi’s public libraries use these funds to ensure access to the internet, technology, collections, and digital and physical resources that support reading and learning. This includes ebooks, audiobooks, and databases for research and learning. In Hawaiʻi, public libraries are a vital resource for many of our rural communities, especially on the neighbor islands. Rural and underserved communities will lose access to critical resources. IMLS also supports Hawaiʻi’s archives and museums. Archives and museums serve as stewards of our history and culture, fostering understanding and appreciation of the past while inspiring future generations. Without the support of IMLS, our cultural institutions will be at risk of losing our unique and diverse history. We strongly urge you to publicly oppose the proposed cuts and to actively support legislation that protects IMLS services and funding. Thank you for your time and your service. We appreciate your leadership and respectfully ask that you do everything in your power to protect the IMLS and the vital work it enables. Mahalo nui loa, Kelly Ann Campbell President Hawaiʻi Library Association by Kelly Ann Campbell and Sunny Pai That’s a wrap! Thank you to all who attended and participated in this year’s Hawaiʻi Library Association Spring Meeting, Reimagining Reading Realms, on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Kelly planned a full agenda for a half-day conference. Ray Pun, incoming American Library Association President-elect at the time of the event*, set the tone with his opening statement. He was not able to be with us, but he kindly sent us a video-recorded speech as our keynote. Our second panel was a talk story with author Kaylin Melia George and illustrator Mae Waite of the recently published book Aloha Everything. They shared their creative process and how their book will benefit the people of Hawaiʻi. There was much discussion about the importance of children seeing themselves and their heritage portrayed with beauty and respect in literary works. Their energy and passion were contagious and they enthusiastically participated in the rest of the meeting. They are very excited to stay in touch, so we have made new community friends. Next, for Rethinking Access - Community Engagement, we highlighted bookmobiles on Kauaʻi and Maui. Victoria Lam of Little Miso Bookmobile and Jessica Gleason of the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System’s Holoholo Bookmobile shared their experiences as bookmobile librarians, connecting with their communities and bringing literacy outside of brick-and-mortar libraries. It was heart-warming to see how committed they are to reaching the public. Victoria sponsors the LIttle Miso Bookmobile with her own funding and donations. Jessica’s and Victoriaʻs commitment to childhood reading is truly inspiring. Check out their cute bookmobiles in the slides! Kelly Campbell concluded the meeting by bringing emotional wellbeing to the forefront of the conversation, with Rethinking Self - Staff in the Stacks. Attendees shared helpful hints on how they create boundaries in their professional and personal lives, seek mental health support, and refresh their energy. The takeaway is that many of us are coping with work and personal stress and we can help each other find solutions. Every event was on point and gave all of us a lot to think about. Mahalo kākou to the speakers and to the audience for making it a good day! Mahalo nui loa to Carina and Joy for helping to make this happen! *If you have not heard, Ray has withdrawn, for personal health reasons, from the position of president-elect. We are all holding him with positive thoughts for good health.
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