Board calls for release of Maui library money

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

KIHEI, Maui — After opposing the appropriation last year, the state Board of Education is now urging Gov. Linda Lingle to release $3 million in general obligation bond money to pay for an expansion of Upcountry Maui's only public library.

The money for planning, design and construction and for acquisition of the land necessary to more than double the size of the Makawao Public Library was approved by the 2002 Legislature. The measure was signed into law by then-Gov. Ben Cayetano, but the money was never released.

Lingle asked lawmakers this year to let the appropriation lapse after the board and former State Librarian Virginia Lowell told her the project was not a priority in the library system's budget.

Meeting on Maui, BOE members said Thursday that they had been misled into believing the money would come from the library budget. It turns out the appropriation was a separate bill engineered by state Sen. J. Kalani English, D-6th (East Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i).

The board voted to send a letter to the governor urging her to release the general obligation bond funds.

Two board members opposed the action, however. Garrett Toguchi said "it's time to put our foot down against pork barrel" legislation. Shelton Jim On, who was appointed by Lingle last month after the resignation of Lex Brodie, said he's concerned about the state's bleak finances.

But BOE Chairman Herbert Watanabe pointed out that the board's recommendation would be only advisory in nature and that releasing the money would still be Lingle's call.

In a letter to Makawao Public Library branch manager Carla Mauri, Lingle said that if the BOE asks for the money to be appropriated, the governor's staff will have to look closely at the project and its potential financial needs for operations and maintenance.

"I hope you will understand that the state's limited financial resources and the significant decrease in revenues make it difficult to move ahead with many needed community-based projects," Lingle wrote.

Mauri and a handful of Makawao Public Library staff members and volunteers urged the board to take action Thursday, saying the 5,632-square-foot library is so crammed with books that there's hardly any room to hold programs or even for patrons to maneuver around the shelves.

The library was built 33 years ago and is Maui's second-busiest public library, with a daily count of about 360 patrons. In 1994, the library was renovated and the meeting room was eliminated to provide space for shelving and reading areas.

Under the expansion proposal, the library would grow to 12,562 square feet.