Hanapēpē Public Library to celebrate 75th year with 1950s swing dance

The first branch library on Kaua‘i is celebrating 75 years of service to its West Side community on Saturday with a 1950s-style hop, complete with a swing band.

“Poodle skirts, greaser jackets and horn-rimmed glasses are encouraged but not required,” librarian and manager Mindy Gipson said.

The Feb. 8 party at the Hanapēpē Public Library will open at 11 a.m. with brief remarks delivered by local officials, including Mayor Derek Kawakami. The fun kicks into high gear afterward with food and beverages in the library meeting room and suitably retro activities outside, including bubble gum-blowing contests and Slinky races.

A professional instructor will teach swing dance before the Sunset Swing Band cuts loose with an hourlong performance at 2:30 p.m.

The Hanapēpē library fronts Kaumualiʻi Highway opposite the town center. It opened in February 1950 as the first branch of the Līhuʻe Public Library, which had been established in 1924.

Residents campaigned for the Hanapēpē library’s construction after plans for a branch library in Waimea, located farther west, were announced.

“Frank Pugh, [principal] of Kalāheo Vocational School, started an effort,” Gipson said. “Like, ‘Hey, if Waimea is getting a library, that’s not enough for all of us.’”

The Hawai‘i Territorial Legislature responded to locals’ demands and allocated $29,000 to the Hanapēpē project, which was built on land once covered by rice paddies and intended for a police station. It was completed months before the Waimea Public Library opened its own doors in August. By 1951, plans were underway for a Kapa‘a branch on the island’s East Side.

Prior to 1950, Kaua‘i residents outside Līhuʻe had relied on a bookmobile and eight “community stations” found throughout the island. A volunteer-operated community station could be opened upon request in any space available. Most were located in public buildings like banks and community centers. Sugar plantations had them, too.

The 1950s represented a period of rapid growth for Hawai‘i libraries after years of difficulties stemming from the Great Depression and World War II. Library circulation and service hours increased following the war, even as large numbers of wartime workers and servicemen stationed in Hawai‘i returned to the mainland.

The Hanapēpē Public Library is one of six public libraries on the Garden Isle and part of the 51-branch Hawai‘i State Public Library System — the only statewide public library system in the United States.

The Hanapēpē library has undergone renovations and expansions over the decades and now houses 21,715 titles, including a small Japanese-language collection.

While it is one of the smaller libraries in the statewide system, it plays an outsize role in its rural community due in part to the support of an active volunteer group called the Friends of Hanapēpē Library. The Friends recently provided the library with a rotating display rack and bulletin boards installed alongside its entrance.

Patrons of all ages regularly visit the library. These range from story-time sessions for keiki (children) on Saturdays to game nights, book clubs and special events. The Galliard String Quartet will visit the library on Feb. 19 to perform a free concert followed by a question-and-answer session.

The library offers digital skills workshops in addition to regular computer technology access and assistance. Yet, some folks may visit the library simply to enjoy its air-conditioned atmosphere on a hot summer day.

“I think of it like a living room … It’s a welcoming place where everybody can feel safe, ” said Gipson, who is one of four full-time personnel.

Gipson, a native Arkansan who relocated to Kaua‘i in 2019 from a position in Virginia, has spent much of her adult life in island communities. In 1989 she survived Hurricane Hugo while living on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. She would later earn her master’s degree in library science during 17 years spent on Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Local taste differs greatly from the mainland, she said. While employed in Virginia she catered to an endless demand for the most current bestsellers and political nonfiction. Gipson has learned that is not the case on the Garden Isle.

“I would try to buy to cover that, because I anticipated demand,” she said. “Nobody checked some of those things out.”

Kaua‘i readers appear unswayed by popularity and news cycles.

“People are more interested in cooking and gardening and nature,” Gipson said. She keeps regular patrons in mind when purchasing more inventory: “There’s a wide range of what people are interested in.”

Librarians throughout Hawai‘i keep track of the latest book trends on social media and update one another when they learn of the latest BookTok sensation. The classics, however, remain in demand. There is now a run on Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869.

Children’s books are not just for keiki. An older patron of the Hanapēpē library spent 2024 reading every winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal. And recent college graduates, after years of textbooks and dry assigned reading, often rediscover their love of books by returning to favorite young adult novels.

Gipson enjoys introducing patrons to the digital services provided by the Hawai‘i State Public Library System. Any library cardholder has free access to ebooks, magazines, audiobooks, TV shows and movies through the Libby app and the Kanopy streaming platform. Free access to The New York Times and online Gale Courses is available through librarieshawaii.org.

The Hanapēpē Public Library, like any library, is more than a repository of books. It’s a concert venue, computer center and community hub. It’s a place of comfort and a source of solutions to all sorts of problems. Gipson and her colleagues are there to help.

“I have the knowledge and the skills to help move them a few steps forward in the problem they’re trying to solve,” Gipson said. “Seeing them relax and be happy because they got something that they needed at the library, it gives me a lot of joy.”

Visit librarieshawaii.org for more information about the Hanapēpē Public Library and the Hawai‘i State Public Library System. Click here for details regarding the Hanapēpē library’s 75th anniversary celebration.