Finding Joy at Molokai Public Library

Molokai Public Library staff, left to right, Leah Aquino, Vikashni Hoffman, Nanoa Thompson and branch manager Mia Langer Ritte. Photo by Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

Molokai Public Library joined National Library Week from April 19 to 25, celebrating the role of libraries and their staff in communities across the country. This year’s theme was “Find Your Joy,” encouraging communities to support libraries, utilize their resources and participate in their events. 

Molokai Branch Manager Mia Langer Ritte said the annual program is sponsored by the American Library Association, which suggests different ways to celebrate the week.

“One of the bigger days was on Tuesday. It was National Library Worker Day,” Langer Ritte said. “The Friends of Molokai Library bought us all flowers, made us lunch and showed their appreciation for us.”

Traditionally, she said, libraries are a place of learning. But with the advent of the Internet, libraries had to change, hosting different events and becoming a community hub. 

“The mission of the Hawaiʻi State Public Library system is to create opportunities,” Langer Ritte said, adding that beyond reading books, in a library you are also learning in different ways and connecting with other community members. “We envision thriving communities, which I think we’re working towards here.”

Molokai Public Library hosts an array of recurring and single events, including Story Time with ‘Ohana Readers for early literacy, Family Literacy Night, a Hawaiian history program, the Global Citizenship Speaker Series facilitated by the Baháʻi Community, a monthly book club and others.

“We’re working on getting our bookmobile back on the road,” Langer Ritte said. 

Besides finding books or participating in some of the programs, community members can also come to the library to enjoy reading a book with a cool air conditioner on hot days, to watch a movie on the library’s DVD player, to access the Internet on a borrowed Chromebook or to kill time between appointments.

“We’ve got lots of puzzles and games, so more families have been coming in between grocery shopping, maybe to just hang out and enjoy the space. We have a whole cart worth of learning materials, letters, numbers, robots to play with,” Langer Ritte said.

Everyone is welcome to hang out at the library, she said, and even meet friends and have small conversations there.

“Sometimes it’s beyond books,” Langer Ritte said. “Books are great, but so is all the other stuff, and just being in a public space with other people and finding that sense of community.”

Visit https://www.librarieshawaii.org/branch/molokai-public-library/ to stay updated on the library’s events.