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
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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.
by Sunny Pai and Kelly Campbell In early February 2024, The American Library Association Council approved five new Core Values and shared this information with its chapter leaders and membership. The Council's co-chair Erin Berman read a statement from her and co-chair Sara Dallas, noting that “our Core Values are designed to navigate these tumultuous times and into a brighter future.”
The Hawaii Library Association is pleased to share this news to help remind all of us that we provide a distinct and necessary civic service to our communities. ALA's announcement is as follows: CHICAGO – The American Library Association Council approved five new Core Values that focus on access, equity, intellectual freedom and privacy, the public good, and sustainability. ALA overwhelmingly approved the new Core Values at its meeting Jan. 21, 2024, at LibLearnX, and they went into effect immediately. The American Library Association's Core Values articulate the profession’s principles and highest aspirations. They guide and unite library workers, including staff, volunteers, trustees, advocates, and others who contribute their talents, expertise, and dedication to furthering the mission of the library. The Core Values uplift and support other foundational documents of the American Library Association, including: the Library Bill of Rights, the Code of Ethics, and Libraries: An American Value. These Core Values also lay the groundwork for the Standards for the Accreditation of master's degree Programs in Library and Information Science, which identify the indispensable components of library and information studies programs. The Core Values Task Force worked on the changes for more than two years, with the goal of creating a more concise, streamlined, and memorable set of values. The previous 12 Core Values were incorporated into the new ones to create a more impactful framework. During the Council meeting, co-chair Erin Berman read a statement from her and co-chair Sara Dallas that explains why the changes were important: “This is a crucial moment for our profession, as our library community faces severe challenges and threats. Our proposed Core Values are designed to navigate these tumultuous times and into a brighter future.” The Council also voted to create working groups for each Core Value to further expand on each description. The ALA Executive Board will appoint members from among applicants to these working groups. Here are the five Core Values, with their descriptions: Access Access provides opportunities for everyone in the community to obtain library resources and services with minimal disruption. Library workers create systems that ensure members of their community can freely access the information they need for learning, growth, and empowerment regardless of technology, format, or delivery methods. Equity Library workers play a crucial role in fostering equity by actively working to dismantle barriers and create spaces that are accessible, welcoming, and beneficial for all. This is accomplished by recognizing and addressing systemic barriers, biases, and inequalities to create inclusive library environments where everyone can benefit from the library's offerings and services. Intellectual Freedom and Privacy Intellectual freedom empowers people to think for themselves and to make informed decisions while respecting each individual’s dignity and independence. Library workers encourage people to cultivate curiosity and form ideas by questioning the world and accessing information from diverse viewpoints and formats without restrictions or censorship. The right to privacy is a crucial safeguard to this freedom, ensuring everyone has the right to develop their thoughts and opinions free of surveillance. Public Good Public good is working to improve society and protect the rights to education, literacy, and intellectual freedom. Libraries are an essential public good and are fundamental institutions in democratic societies. Library workers provide the highest service levels to create informed, connected, educated, and empowered communities. Sustainability Sustainability means making choices that are good for the environment, make sense economically, and treat everyone equitably. Sustainable choices preserve physical and digital resources and keep services useful now and into the future. By supporting climate resiliency, library workers create thriving communities and care for our common good for a better tomorrow. by The HLA Board Aloha kākou,
In recent months, library professionals across the nation – including the Hawaiʻi Library Association (HLA) Executive Board – have observed efforts to weaken the American Library Association (ALA) and the principles on which it stands by lobbying library organizations to withdraw their membership. In July 2023, the Montana State Library Commission withdrew its membership from ALA. Similar efforts exist in Illinois, Idaho, and other states. Much of the ire that is currently aimed at ALA is in reaction to the organization’s steadfast support for intellectual freedom, diversity and inclusion, and LGBTQ+ rights, which stand in direct opposition to coordinated censorship and book banning attempts. Locally, Hawaiʻi’s librarians are seeing a concerning increase in book challenges in both school and public libraries. In anticipation of escalation, the theme of HLA’s Spring Meeting was ʻAʻali‘i, inspired by the ʻaʻali‘i tree, which resists the most adverse environmental conditions to remain standing. In ideal conditions, the ʻAʻaliʻi tree can grow tall and shelter other plants and life forms, fostering the rebirth and diverse ecology of Hawaiʻi’s land. At this meeting, Jon Martin and Joyce McIntosh of ALA, as well as Hawaiʻi House Representative Jenna Takenouchi and US Congresswoman Jill Tokuda, discussed organized efforts to challenge the freedom to read. These efforts include actions to control school boards and ban books – all rooted from a place of fear. Headlines about the harassment of library workers and book banning efforts across the nation continue to increase. Just as ALA is supporting library workers, authors, and publishers as book challenges grow in number and contentiousness, it is important for us to stand in solidarity with ALA and the Library Bill of Rights in which we believe. HLA has been affiliated with ALA for over 100 years and, as we move forward, the HLA Executive Board shares with all of you our resolve to stand with ALA – and its leaders – in support of intellectual freedom. This effort manifests in our individual actions and in our organizational activities. Please review the attachment from ALA to understand the full scope of the support that ALA provides to those in our field and to our state’s libraries. We deeply feel that our association – and, more widely, librarianship in Hawaiʻi – would be much less effective without the support of the American Library Association. Hence, let us gather and be as one, neʻepapa, as we stand for the freedom to read. It is our kūleana to mālama pono this right for our beloved community. It is our kūleana to stand with our sister ALA chapters and the national ALA to mālama this right for all. Together, we are as strong as the ʻaʻali‘i tree, prepared to weather any storm to fight for and shelter the diverse rights and interests of our communities. With respect and aloha, The Board of the Hawaiʻi Library Association |
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