A dedication ceremony for the newest library in the state is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21.

"It's going to be a great day for the people of Kapolei and 'Ewa and the whole Leeward coast," said Carol Gabbard, chairwoman of the school boards public libraries and charter schools committee. "We've been waiting a long time for this."

The library, on Manawai Street in downtown Kapolei, was completed in 2002. But it remained empty ever since because the state didn't appropriate money for books and other materials.

For years, residents and lawmakers fought to get money for the library, which would serve the communities of Kapolei, Makakilo and Honokai Hale.

"It's been such an unfortunate thing that we had this beautiful structure that sat there for so long," said Maeda Timson, chairwoman of the Kapolei/Maka-kilo/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board. "But we're a very optimistic community. We take a situation and we do the very best with it."

The library opened a reading room last year in response to community concerns that the building wasn't being used. The room was open three days a week, with dozens of people coming in each day, borrowing books and reading magazines.

"This library is going to be terrific," said Makakilo resident Herman Young, 74, a retired engineer who has donated boxloads of books to the library and volunteered at the reading room on Thursdays. "It's going to be good for the kids."

Covering 35,000 square feet, this is the second largest library in the state, next to the Hawai'i State Library. And with its size comes increased services that support the second-city concept of Kapolei.

"This shows that we are, in fact, a city," said Rep. Mark Moses, R-40th (Makakilo, Kapolei, Royal Kunia). "We deserve a library ... I think this is an important function in a community. It helps draw us together."

Florence Yee, director of the Hawai'i State Library, said this will be a major regional library that will serve a wider community than just Kapolei.

"It was planned to be a resource library to fit into Kapolei as the second city," Yee said. "The potential is really great ... We're just so happy that it's all coming together."

Kapolei Public Library will have an archive of both of Hawai'i's major daily newspapers on microfilm — an expensive undertaking for any library. It also will have 42 computers for public access, many with Internet connections. And with a staff of 24, the library will boast several specialized librarians that will oversee different genres of books.

"Having the newest library in the state is exciting," said Sen. Brian Kanno, D-19th (Kapolei, Makakilo, Waikele). "It's just another piece in the puzzle with the city of Kapolei designed to be the second urban center on O'ahu."

Inadequate money has plagued the state library system, which last year reduced hours and canceled bookmobile service because of budget cuts.

This year, though, libraries received from the state Legislature an additional $1 million for books and materials and $3.5 million in capital improvement under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The library's staff has been ordering books for the Kapolei library for more than a year, preparing for the much-anticipated opening.

"We can stop saying we have a beautiful library and no books," Timson said. "We can say we have a beautiful library — that's open."