Hawaii State Library will Kickoff Centennial Anniversary Celebration on Feb. 1
The Hawaii State Library (HSL), the flagship of the Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS), will celebrate its Centennial Anniversary beginning on Friday, February 1 through December 2013.
The public is invited to attend a free Centennial Kick-off Event featuring a performance by the Royal Hawaiian Band on February 1 at 9:30 a.m. Coincidentally, the Royal Hawaiian Band, an agency of the City and County of Honolulu, performed for the opening of the Hawaii State Library 100 years ago on February 1, 1913. The Royal Hawaiian Band was established in 1836 by King Kamehameha III, and is the only band in the United States with a royal legacy.
The Hawaii State Library, located at 478 South King Street, will present "Hawaii State Library's Centennial Scrapbook," an historical exhibit about the Library, in the First Floor Reading Room throughout the celebration. The founding of the Library was promoted and secured by members of the Honolulu Library and Reading Room Association, which was formed in 1879 to "provide a reading room for mechanics where they could spend an evening, enjoyably, away from the allurements of the saloons." The Honolulu Library and Reading Room Association served Honolulu for 34 years and is now known as Friends of the Library of Hawai‘i.
In addition to its regular Saturday morning Children's Storytimes in the Edna Allyn Room, the Library will offer special programs and new exhibits each month during its Centennial year.
Upcoming highlights include:
* Lobby exhibit for February – "Andrew Carnegie, the Man Who Loved Libraries"
* Saturday, Feb. 9, 1:30 p.m. – "So You Want to Write a Children's Book." Published members of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators will discuss what it takes to write for children; First Floor Reading Room
* Saturday, Feb. 23, 11:30 a.m. – "The Status of Carnegie Libraries Today," a presentation by Dr. Rebecca Knuth of the University of Hawaii at Manoa; First Floor Reading Room
* Thursday, Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m. – Hawaii State Library Book Discussion Group Meeting in Language, Literature & History Reading Room
* Ho`omaika`i Concert Series – The Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus, under the direction of Nola A. Nahulu, will perform choral and vocal music on the following Thursdays at 6 p.m. in the Lobby: Feb.14 – "Ke Aloha," Mar. 21 – "Na Mele o Hawaii," Apr. 18 – "Opera Vignettes," May 23 – "Ulu Tree" Youth Opera by Herb Mahelona.
* Lobby exhibit for March: "Crafts 'R' Us," presented by HSL staff in support of National Crafts Month
Contact the Library as soon as possible if a sign language interpreter or other special accommodation is needed for the programs. Please call the Hawaii State Library at 586-3500 for more information.
The Hawaii State Public Library System will announce more special programs and exhibits for the Hawaii State Library's Centennial Anniversary Celebration in news releases, the System's Holo I Mua newsletter, and the HSPLS website:www.librarieshawaii.org.
