|
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
0 Comments
For the fifth consecutive year, the school library media specialization in the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Library and Information Science graduate program has been recognized as one of the top 10 programs in the nation by the U.S. News and World Report in its "America's Best Graduate Schools 2012." It was ranked eighth in the top ten. U.S. News and World Report analyzes more than 12,000 different graduate program areas for this special report. Rankings are based on expert opinions regarding program quality and statistical indicators that measure the quality of the faculty, research, and students.
"The ICS department is extremely proud of the five-year sustained record of excellence made by the LIS program's school library media specialization for having the U.S. News and World Report name it in the top 10 out of more than 12,000 different graduate program areas programs nationally," Martha Crosby, Information and Computer Sciences department chair, said in a press release. The graduates of the LIS Program make up 85 percent of the Hawaii DOE's school library workforce. Several of them have received national recognition. In 2007, Kapolei High School Library, led by Carolyn Kirio and Sandy Yamamoto, was cited as the National School Library Media Program of the Year by the American Association of School Librarians. This year, Kailua Elementary Library was selected as one of 35 exemplary programs across the nation by the AASL, and librarian Darren Tanaka was commended for his innovative approaches to learning. St. Francis and Hongwanji Mission School were among several schools nationwide to receive a 2011 Capstone Assisting Remarkable Educators grant. The grants are a part of a program by Capstone Digital, developer of personalized literacy environments for students, to help improve literacy in schools. More than 30 schools from 20 school districts across the country have been awarded matching grants, funding dollar for dollar their purchase of myON reader, an online personalized literacy environment developed by Capstone that matches students' interests and reading levels to a recommended booklist of more than 1,300 enhanced digital books.
"We're thrilled to help offset the federal funding many educators were counting on and offer these remarkable schools access to the resources and tools that will provide unlimited reading and learning opportunities for their students," said Todd Brekhus, president of Capstone Digital. The Makiki Community Library is featured by author Brian Mathews in a March 7 column published by American Libraries, the magazine of the American Library Association. The article's title is "The Little Library That Could."
From the article: "Inspiring libraries are often the ones with big budgets. They have impressive buildings, enormous collections, and large staffs. The Makiki Community Library in Honolulu, Hawaii, has none of these things, but that doesn’t make it any less remarkable. This small donations-based, volunteer-driven organization effectively executes its deep-seated mission of engaging the community." Nearly six years after the flood of 2004 devastated the ground floor of Hamilton Library, renovation of the flooded areas of the UH Manoa Library was completed this spring. In late June, the Library's Government Documents & Maps collection, Serials, Acquisitions and Cataloging departments, and the UH LIS program returned to their refurbished homes in the ground floor of Phases I and II. Government Documents & Maps also now are open to the public, and walk-in service is available for the U.S. federal depository collection, the United Nations collection, and Maps, Aerial Photos, and GIS (MAGIS).
A couple of events will celebrate the return to the Ground Floor. On Sunday, Aug. 22, the UH Manoa Library will host an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Information on the flood and renovation process will be on exhibit and light refreshments will be served. On Sunday, Sept. 19, the UH LIS Program will host an open house for all UH LIS alumni to visit the renovated library school. The event, scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m., will include tours of the new facilities and light refreshments. The LIS Alumni Group is also accepting potluck contributions. |
Archives
October 2025
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
|
|