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| University of Hawaii at Manoa Library | |
|---|---|
| Name | University of Hawaii at Manoa Library |
| Established | 1908 |
| Location | Honolulu, Hawaii, United States |
| Type | Academic library |
| Collection size | >3 million items |
University of Hawaii at Manoa Library is the principal research library serving University of Hawaii at Mānoa and the Pacific region, supporting scholarship in Asian studies, Pacific Islands studies, Hawaiian studies, astronomy, and oceanography. The library complex houses extensive physical and digital collections, special archives, and collaborative programs that connect to institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United Nations, and regional cultural organizations. Its holdings support faculty, students, and researchers engaged in projects linked to Alexander Agassiz, John Wesley Powell, Alfred Russel Wallace, James Cook, and other figures tied to Pacific exploration and scholarship.
The library traces origins to early 20th-century expansions of Honolulu higher education and the founding of Territory of Hawaii institutions, with collections growing alongside affiliations with entities like the Bishop Museum, Iolani Palace, and the Hawaiʻi State Archives. During the mid-20th century the library expanded collections related to World War II, United States Navy operations in the Pacific, and postwar academic fields connected to Cold War Pacific strategy, receiving deposits and exchanges from the National Archives and Records Administration and military repositories. Later 20th- and early 21st-century developments integrated digital collaborations with partners including the Digital Public Library of America, HathiTrust Digital Library, and the Open Archives Initiative to broaden access to Pacific and Asian materials.
Holdings exceed several million volumes and include rare items such as voyaging logs connected to Captain James Cook, ethnographic fieldnotes aligned with work by Franz Boas and Bronisław Malinowski, and missionary records associated with Hiram Bingham and Lorrin Andrews. The library curates extensive maps and cartographic resources tied to Pacific exploration, oceanographic charts used by Matthew Maury scholarship, and unique repositories of newspapers and periodicals from Japan, Philippines, Samoa, Tonga, and Guam. Special collections contain manuscripts, photographs, and oral histories linked to figures such as Duke Kahanamoku, Queen Liliʻuokalani, King Kamehameha I, and scholars like Samuel M. Kamakau and Mary Kawena Pukui.
Services include reference and research consultations supporting projects connected to National Science Foundation grants, interlibrary loan partnerships with JSTOR and Project MUSE, and specialized assistance for archival research related to Manoa dissertations and theses such as works endorsed by Association of Research Libraries. Facilities comprise climate-controlled rare book rooms comparable to collections at Yale University and University of California, Berkeley, map and GIS labs interoperable with Esri platforms, and multimedia studios used in collaboration with National Endowment for the Humanities-funded projects. Public services extend to reading rooms, digitization stations, and instruction tied to curriculum from schools including College of Social Sciences, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, and William S. Richardson School of Law.
Administration aligns with the University of Hawaii system governance and academic bureaus such as the Office of the President (University of Hawaii System), with leadership coordinated through university librarians and subject specialists who liaise with departments like Department of Ethnic Studies, Department of History, and Asian Studies Program. The library participates in consortia including the Association of Research Libraries, Council on Library and Information Resources, and regional networks that involve the Pacific Islands Forum institutions. Budgetary and strategic planning responds to initiatives sponsored by entities like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and state agencies including the Hawaii State Legislature.
The archives maintain government records, private papers, and cultural treasures tied to Hawaiian monarchy history, missionary archives involving Lorrin A. Thurston and Hiram Bingham, and genealogical materials referencing families such as the Kamehameha dynasty. Collections emphasize indigenous knowledge documented by scholars like Samuel Kamakau, Nathaniel Emerson, and Mary Pukui, and preserve language resources central to ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi revitalization campaigns associated with the Kamehameha Schools and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The Hawaiian Collection supports legal, cultural, and land-use research tied to landmark topics like Hawaii Admission Act legacies and property matters in Hawai‘i.
Digital initiatives include large-scale digitization projects in partnership with HathiTrust, participation in the Biodiversity Heritage Library for Pacific natural history materials, and adoption of open-access policies resonant with Creative Commons licensing models. The library manages institutional repositories for theses and faculty publications in alignment with standards from the Open Archives Initiative and federates metadata to platforms such as the Digital Public Library of America and WorldCat. Digitization workflows and preservation strategies integrate tools from Fedora Commons, DSpace, and IIIF to enable remote research on materials related to Polynesian navigation, Hawaiian language, and Pacific environmental studies.
Outreach programs collaborate with cultural institutions including the Bishop Museum, Hawaiʻi State Public Library System, and community organizations like Nā Maka o ka ʻĀina, offering exhibitions, lectures, and school programs that highlight figures such as Duke Kahanamoku and events such as Merrie Monarch Festival. Partnerships support workforce development with entities like Hawaiʻi Pacific University and conservation initiatives tied to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument stewardship, while community digitization and oral history projects engage elders, educators, and nonprofit groups across the Pacific Islands Forum region. The library’s public programming often features collaborations with grants from sources such as the National Endowment for the Arts and community foundations.
Category:Libraries in Hawaii