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HILO, Hawaii (AP) — The state is set to start the planning phase for a new public library for underserved residents in the rapidly growing Puna district.
State lawmakers approved $800,000 for a feasibility study and initial phases of the project during the 2014 legislative session. Officials said negotiations with a Honolulu-based consultant Group 70, which will conduct the study, are almost complete.
The new library will be an addition to the three libraries that serve Puna residents in Pahoa, Keaau and Mountain View, The Hawaii Tribune Herald reported (http://bit.ly/1WMGFhS).
"This will be a modern library," said state Sen. Russell Ruderman, D-Pahoa, "with e-books, e-readers that can be lent out, meeting spaces. It's really a learning center. We have a very fast growing and very poor population, and I feel a library is a mechanism for people to climb out of poverty, a way to educate themselves."
The regional library will also follow a new trend by moving away from Hawaii's tradition of conjoining public libraries with school libraries, which sometimes creates scheduling and other conflicts for students and community members.
"You have use conflicts, with people in the public coming onto campus, and school administrators can't know who that person is and whether they should be on campus or not," Ruderman said. "It creates a security concern."
Once a contract has been finalized with Group 70, plans for the library will be open to public comment.
Residents raised their concerns about the proposed library at a previous meeting held in October. One issue raised by many residents was the location of the library and whether it will be easily accessed.
"What I'm hoping will come out of all this as a result is that they will see a real effort needs to be made to continue to provide good service, on a local basis, around Puna," said Lee Maniscalco, president of the Friends of the Pahoa Library.
Ruderman said a possible location and other details regarding the new library are still being decided. He estimates the process of building the library will take another seven to eight years.
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Information from: Hawaii Tribune-Herald, http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/
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