PO Box 1017
Wailuku HI 96793
808 871 6563
The Maui Friends of the Library has been around since 1912, at the time when the first Free Public Library on Maui was opened at the Alexander House Settlement in Wailuku. The Maui News of January 1914 stated that the Friends of the Library had paid the salary of the Librarian for the previous two years, the Alexander House Settlement supplied the room, furnishings, and light for free, and at the end of the year, the library had over 2,000 volumes. Over the years, the Friends of the Library operated on an informal manner, supporting the addition of more libraries and supplying funds to be used for items not readily available through the library system.
On June 16, 1957, a Charter of Incorporation was granted to the "Friends of the Maui County Free Library," signed by Mr. H. H. Adams, Treasurer of the Territory of Hawaii, and approved by Peter A. Aduja, Deputy Attorney General and Samuel Wilder King, Governor of the Territory of Hawaii, with a stated charter duration of fifty years. The word free has since been dropped from our name and we are now known as the Maui Friends of the Library.
- Our mission today has not changed since the charter was issued in 1957, and is as follows:
- The objects and purposes of the corporation shall be to assist in maintaining the Maui County Free Library as a free public library; to promote the extension of library services throughout the County of Maui; to increase the facilities of the Maui County Free Library by securing the materials beyond the command of the ordinary library budget; and to enrich the cultural opportunities available to the people of Maui.