A decade ago, Alyssa Silva was just 16 when she first stepped into the Kauaʻi Community College library as a student of Running Start, a program that allows eligible high school students to take a college course at a University of Hawai‘i campus as part of their high school coursework.
Silva is preparing to cross Kauaʻi CC’s commencement stage for the third time, with this occasion to receive her Master of Library and Information Science degree from UH Mānoa, according to a press release from the community college.
“I basically grew up in this library in terms of my career,” said Silva, a Kauaʻi High graduate.
Silva earned her associate degree in accounting from Kauaʻi CC in 2019 before transferring to UH West Oʻahu. She completed her bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting in 2021, while residing on Kauaʻi. During her undergraduate years, she worked as a student assistant in the Kauaʻi CC library.
After graduating, Silva briefly worked in accounting before finding herself drawn back to the library. What began as a temporary position quickly turned into a permanent role. She credits University Center Education Specialist Rhonda Liu with encouraging her to pursue a master’s degree in library and information science.
Working in a small community college library has allowed her to develop skills across many areas while helping students feel welcomed and supported.
“We get students fresh out of high school, or students returning to school after a long time, and they can be nervous,” Silva said. “We’re here to help them become comfortable using the library and the school’s resources, and to give them a safe space to be.”
Throughout her graduate studies, Silva said courses focused on Indigenous librarianship had the greatest impact on her perspective and career goals.
“Libraries are based on Western ideas, and Indigenous knowledge doesn’t always fit neatly into those systems,” Silva said. “I feel like my way of contributing to our Indigenous-serving institution is by being a careful steward of what we have, continuing to learn from our community, and finding ways to make library spaces and collections more reflective of the people we serve.”
In recent years, Silva has supported a variety of initiatives at Kauaʻi CC, including managing circulation operations, learning cataloging and collection management while helping plan for future library projects and supporting projects connected to the Kikuchi Center.
“As an Indigenous-serving institution, archiving helps make these materials accessible,” Silva said. “It creates greater access for the community, especially for Native Hawaiian students, to connect with and work with these materials.”
Silva also recognizes the important role libraries play for local students at a time when many public school libraries on Kauaʻi face ongoing challenges and reductions in services.
“Sometimes students come into the library feeling intimidated,” Silva said. “I feel like making sure Indigenous, Pacific and local authors are represented and available to our students is crucial. It’s important for students to walk into a library and see something of themselves reflected there.”
Looking ahead, Silva is considering pursuing a second master’s degree in Indigenous language and culture education, history, anthropology or humanities to become a specialty librarian.
