Rod Ohira's People
Couple enrich libraries
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
It's a tribute to the tenacious, can-do attitude of a dynamic 60-year-old woman that the Hawai'i Public Library Systems' Korean-language collection has grown from less than 100 outdated items to 9,375 books in four years. By year's end, the book count should be 10,000.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Sook Ki Moon, who came to Hawai'i from South Korea in 1981, and her husband, Eugene Moon, have donated $55,000 to the Hawai'i Library Foundation since 1996 to buy books for the collection, which is housed at the McCully-Mo'ili'ili Library. The collection is available on loan to other branches statewide.
Sook Ki Moon, center, shares a laugh at McCully-Mo'ili'ili Library with, from left, Jennifer Kim, president of the Moon Book Club, and Lia Pyun, an accountant with the state library system. Moon has helped supply libraries with more than 9,000 Korean-language books.
The Korean-language books are best-sellers translated from English and include fiction and nonfiction. They are among the most circulated in the state system.
In addition, through pure salesmanship, Mrs. Moon has secured a commitment from Korean Air to transport books to Hawai'i at no charge; negotiated a 10 percent discount deal with Kyobo Book Centre in Korea that includes packing and shipping prep work; obtained a $55,000 gift from Pohang Iron and Steel Co., one of the world's top steel producers, and organized Moon's Book Club, a group of 15-20 volunteers who prep, categorize and stack the Korean books for the library.
"It's her passion for the project that gets others to help," said Caroline Spencer, director of the main library branch on King Street.
The former Sook Ki Kim, third eldest of six children, owned a restaurant that employed 20-30 people in Seoul when she met her husband while vacationing in Hawai'i. They married in October 1981.
Despite being an avid reader, Mrs. Moon never visited a public library here until November 1996. Distressed by an article in a Korean-language newspaper about cutbacks that would eliminate $2,300 for purchasing Korean-language books, she went to the library for the first time to donate $2,500.
"As a book lover, it touched her pride that the state was cutting back on Korean books because she feels people who read can improve themselves," said Eugene Moon, an FBI intelligence analyst and former city information specialist. "So she wanted to help. I went down with her, gave the check and thought that was the end of it."
No, it was only the beginning.
Three months later, Spencer invited the Moons to the main library to view the books the state had purchased with their donation. Mrs. Moon was shocked. She found the books purchased were outdated and overpriced.
"All life, I am business person," she said. "When check up price, it four times too high. I say I can buy more books for cheaper."
"She committed herself," her husband said. "I think the reason she feels so strongly about reading is that's the way she self-educated herself. Because of the Korean War, she didn't finish Middle School. But her knowledge now is better than a college education."
Her first step was to cut out the 25 percent shipping cost. Korean Air provided the opportunity. "I tell them, if your company shipping free, I can do anything," said Mrs. Moon, owner of Katsura-Ya Jewelry and Boutique at the Pacific Beach Hotel.
She can be "very persuasive," said Jennifer Kim, president of Pacific Rim Network Inc. who heads Moon's Book Club. "Without Korean Air's cooperation, we couldn't do this."
While on a business trip to Hong Kong in April 1997, Mrs. Moon made a side trip to Korea and worked out the deal with Kyobo. The Moons donated $5,000 to purchase 700 books.
When the first set of 700 books arrived in Hawai'i, Mrs. Moon found out that they would not be available to readers until they were properly recorded, labeled, categorized and stacked on the shelves. The process would take six months. So she recruited volunteers.
"Our nickname for her is bulldog because once she starts something, she makes it happen," said Lia Pyun, an accountant for State Library Systems and Moon's Book Club volunteer.
The gift from Pohang Iron and Steel Co., which Mrs. Moon began pursuing two years ago, represents seed money to continue the project. The money has been placed in a Moon's Book Club Trust Fund with the Hawai'i Library Foundation. The money will generate $3,000 in interest per year, and the group is looking for corporate donations of $7,000 annually to continue the project and take the financial burden off the Moons.
"First time, 700 books come in and one week, almost all gone," said Mrs. Moon, who was cited by Gov. Ben Cayetano in 1998 for volunteer work."I feel like head of family, open refrigerator and see all food gone. Got to go get more."
Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8181.
