Renovated, Expanded Na´alehu Public Library Re-Opens to Public

The Hawai´i State Public Library System announced Monday that the Na´alehu Public Library is now open to the public after an expansion and renovation project.  

Following a two-year construction project, the library has grown from a 775 square-foot “portable” structure to a 1,676 square-foot library to better meet the needs of the community. The new library now has a children’s reading area, staff work room, bathroom, new signage and a new parking lot. 

The expansion project was a partnership between the Hawai´i State Public Library System, Friends of the Library of Hawai´i, and the United States Department of Agriculture that provided grant funding to help expand and enhance the facility. 

Due to current COVID-19 protocols, a small ceremony was held to open the new library on Monday, Nov. 15. Former HSPLS employee, Pastor Debbie Wong Yuen presided over the blessing of the library and opening remarks were shared by Representative Jeanne Kapela, State Librarian, Stacey A. Aldrich, and Branch Manager Sara Kamibayashi.

The community will be able to take advantage of an improved library space to browse and borrow, to use free Wi-Fi and public computers, and enjoy all of the other services the library has to offer.  

Naalehu Public Library is located at 95-5669 Mamalahoa Hwy. The current library hours of operation are: 

• Monday 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. 
• Friday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

“We are grateful to everyone who worked on this project to make our smallest library and the southernmost library in the USA a bigger and brighter place for the community,” said State Librarian Stacey Aldrich. 

For more information, contact the Naalehu Public Library at 808-939-2442.