Two fundraising drives aimed at helping to keep Hawai'i's public libraries open have collected more than $130,000 in less than a month and have already helped to keep one Big Island library from temporarily closing.

The state Public Library System's "Keep Your Library Open!" campaign had taken in $59,884 as of Friday. A companion drive, "Keep the Doors Open!," administered by the Friends of the Library of Hawai'i, has collected $71,776.

The drives are intended to support public libraries facing temporary or permanent closure due to budget cuts.

"We've been doing rather well," said acting state Librarian Diane Eddy. "Of course, we would hope for millions, but we have been receiving a good response to our fund drives."

The money came too late to prevent the temporary closure of the Lahaina Public Library from Sept. 12 to 21, but it was available to help Mountain View Public and School Library on the Big Island remain open despite a scheduled temporary shutdown due to staffing and funding shortages.

The library requires at least two full-time and one part-time staffer to operate. With the current hiring freeze and a depletion of funds necessary to hire temporary replacements, the library would have had to shut down for three weeks in October while one of the staff went on scheduled vacation.

Instead, an unspecified portion of the donations went to funding a temporary replacement, allowing the library to remain in service, according to library system spokeswoman Susan Nakata.

Nakata said the donated money could be used for a variety of basic necessities, from paying utility bills to buying books.

"Every situation we encounter is different because we're stretched so thin," she said.

Nakata said library officials are creating a list of priorities that would guide disbursement of the money.

Donations have come from a variety of sources, from anonymous individuals who dip into their own wallets to preschool classes and cafeteria workers who have organized their own fund drives.

Each library has its own designated trust fund, and may also be eligible to receive general funds collected through donations.

Funds collected by the Friends of the Library of Hawai'i are deposited into a checking account accessible by select library administrators for distribution.

The drive got a significant boost Thursday when musician Jack Johnson donated $10,000 to the Kahuku Public Library, $10,000 to the Waialua Public Library and $5,000 to the general fund.

Friends of the Library of Hawai'i Executive Director Byrde Cestare said her organization undertook the fund drive as a separate initiative from its ongoing efforts to raise money for library programs not otherwise included in the operating budget.

"In normal times, we would not be supplanting state funds," said Cestare. "But these are extraordinary times."

Cestare called the use of donated money to keep the Mountain View library open "a great victory." She said the ability of the library to tap into the newly donated money speaks directly to the level of need many libraries are experiencing.

"Let's use it as quickly as it comes in," she said. "It's important for people to know that their donations are being used immediately to help our libraries. We're not setting up a fund for an endowment. It's money in, money out."