PO Box 1017
Wailuku HI 96793
808 871 6563
Fall 2008
Volume 14, Number 3After more than a year, all the renovations at MFOL Used Books in Puunene are finally complete and the place looks great!
Last year, the interior was completely remodeled with all new wiring, lights, ceiling fans, bookcases, and paint. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, we were unable to do anything to the outside of the building at that time. Thanks to a generous grant we were able to renovate the exterior this past spring.
The first thing you will notice is the new concrete ramp and patio which make it much easier for our patrons to visit. On the patio are new bookcases for free books and magazines as well as two new benches. Above the patio a new awning has been added to help keep it cool as well as provide protection from the rain. And when it does rain, a new gutter system will keep both the outside books and our patrons dry. Finally, the entire exterior was cleaned and repainted.
We are very grateful to the Teens-on-Call job training program and Keoki Raymond for all of their hard work in completing our interior and exterior improvements.
Our frequent patrons are very pleased with the changes we have made and we invite you to come by and check us out. We are one of Maui's best kept secrets so please bring a friend and help us support Maui public libraries.
The MFOL sponsored performances of "Uncle Wayne" at the Wailuku, Kihei, Makawao, Lahaina, and Kahalui Libraries.
A grant was made to the Hana Library for the purchase of 3 electric fans.
The MFOL continued its annual renewal of various magazine subscriptions for all Maui County Libraries.
The Wailuku Library was granted money to purchase CD/DVD processing supplies.
BIG SALE
We tried something new and different – for us, anyway. On August 16th we had a big Give-Away And Sale. The lawn and lanai featured tons of free books and magazines of all descriptions, plus free videos and vinyl recordings. Inside the shop we adopted the popular fund-raising technique of "A-Dollar-A-Bag." The notice in the Maui News worked like a charm. We were swamped from opening until mid-afternoon.
Financially it was a good day, with nearly double our normal Saturday donations (both of money and of books and videos). More importantly we met a lot of new people, both visitors to Maui and residents who hadn't known of the existence of "Used Books," our little shop of wonders. Our "browser" base should be a lot larger now.
I send my deepest thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who toted boxes of books, helped bag people's selections, and kept re-stocking the lanai. It was hard work, but fun. I estimate that we sent over 3,000 books out into the community. That's got to help make a better world.
YOU ASKED FOR IT - YOU GOT IT!
Our intrepid Treasurer, Sharon Woodall, heard the plea for better signage to help you find "Used Books." With photographic assistance from Bob Gilroy, Sharon got estimates and permits, bought the signs and put them up. Bigger and brighter than our old signs, hopefully they will help newcomers to wend their way through the sugar mill and onward to the real sweet stuff. A huge MAHALO to you, Sharon.
Mahalo and aloha,
John Clark
Holly Braffet has recently been named the new branch manager at Hana Public and School Library. Ms. Braffet grew up on Molokai and graduated from Molokai High in 1997. She received her BFA from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida and her MLIS from UH Manoa.
In 2005 Ms.Braffet published her first local children's book, "No Slippers". She worked for a year as the librarian for ASSETS School for the Gifted and Dyslexic in Honolulu, then moved to California and worked as the Children's Librarian for the Southwest Branch Library in Bakersfield before deciding to return home to the islands.
Ms. Braffet comments "I love Hana because it is a small, close-knit community much like what I grew up with on Molokai. My hopes as a librarian are to update the collection as a whole, with special emphasis on the Hawaiiana and juvenile nonfiction sections, and to be an advocate for our community through outreach, grants, and programming."
The MFOL congratulates Holly in her new position and wishes her much success.
Your local library is truly an amazing place; it's filled with an incredible amount of information and entertainment staffed with people eager to assist. Unfortunately, it's not always conveniently located and isn't open 24/7. The Internet Public Library has many of the same benefits as your local library without those limitations.
The IPL is as close as you can get to having a local library branch inside your computer. Like your local brick and mortar library, the IPL is full of books, newspapers, magazines, and reference materials including almanacs, dictionaries and encyclopedias. As with any library, the IPL does not generate its own content, but provides links to the content on other websites and the tools to search it.
Just as your neighborhood library has children's and young adults sections, the Internet Public Library has Kidspace and Teenspace. These dedicated pages provide age appropriate content and interfaces to help students with such things as homework and science fair projects. The TeenSpace page also has an icon dedicated to the current graphic novel (manga) craze.
The IPL even has the equivalent of your helpful local librarian in the form of "Ask an IPL Librarian." This link takes you to a form where you fill in your email address, describe what you are looking for and when you need the information. Thankfully, the answer will come from an actual human rather than an automated response system.
As amazing as the Internet Public Library is, it will not replace your friendly neighborhood library. It does not contain the latest bestsellers or any book published after about 1920 because of copyright limitations. The IPL also does not contain CDs, DVDs, or audio books.
The IPL was created in 1995 as part of a graduate class at the University of Michigan's School of Information and Library Studies. The initial goal was to investigate the interconnections of libraries, librarians, and librarianship with a distributed networked environment. The IPL is currently hosted and maintained by Drexel University's College of Information Science & Technology.
For everyone who loves libraries and has access to a computer, the Internet Public Library is worth checking out.
Most magazines keep their readers informed regarding the status of their subscriptions by indicating the expiration date on the mailing label. The MFOL has adopted this idea to let our supporters know when their membership will expire.
Please take a look at your mailing label to check your current status. If your membership has expired or will expire in the near future, we ask that you please take the time to renew your membership with us. If you are a member and receive the print copy of our newsletter, please use the application provided there. If you aren't a member, or if you just need an extra copy of our membership application, you may print one from our web site. You may also obtain an application at any one of the Maui County Public Libraries.
The MFOL carries on its programs to support our libraries with funds which come from book sales and membership dues. We count on you for your support ... please help.