The Learning Commons

Please join us in welcoming Hauʻolihiwahiwa Moniz as our new full-time, tenure-track Hawaiian-Pacific Resources Librarian!

Hauʻolihiwahiwa Moniz is a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) librarian, archivist, and social researcher who received her MLISc from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2020 and obtained her second Master’s degree in Hawaiian Studies with a thesis on Native Hawaiian Lateral Violence and Contemporary Hawaiian Language Acquisition, also at UHM, in 2023.

For five years, she served as the Graduate Research Assistant for the Laka me Lono Resource Center, the Hawaiian Studies Library and Archive, at Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. While there, she headed library programming and assisted in Hawaiian cultural research and collection care. Hauʻolihiwahiwa also served as the first Indigenous Initiatives Librarian at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hamilton Library’s Hawaiian and Pacific collections.

In October 2024, Hauʻolihiwahiwa joined the Leeward CC Library as a part-time Reference Librarian serving the Puʻuloa campus and Waiʻanae Moku Education Center. In this position, she provided reference services and library instruction on both campuses.

In her new position as the Hawaiian-Pacific Resources Librarian, Hauʻolihiwahiwa will serve as subject liaison to Hawaiian Studies, Pacific Studies, and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language) courses and instructors. As the primary point of contact for library services at Waiʻanae Moku, she will also support the Library’s Information Literacy Program and other classroom instruction needs. She will also maintain and develop the Hawaiian-Pacific and Waiʻanae Moku Collections and future Leeward CC archives.

Hauʻolihiwahiwa can be reached at (808) 455-0390 or hmoniz@hawaii.edu. For the duration of the Learning Commons 3rd floor renovation, her office is located at the Diamond-Head C-wing portables along with other library faculty and staff.

This undated photo, probably taken around the turn of the century, shows Makua Settlement from the beach. Visible on the left are the church and school built by Samuel Andrews.

Historic Wai’anae – A Place of Kings, published in 1973, is a collection of stories and personal recollections from kūpuna about life on the Wai’anae Coast during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is among the few works documenting the history of these communities. The initial print run of 42,000 copies sold out and was never reprinted. Multiple copies are available at Leeward CC Library and various other library collections. 

Decades ago, probably not long after the book’s publication, the author entrusted the library with a box of old photos and correspondence related to its making. The actual details of the donation are lost to present-day library staff. Occasionally, the library received a request to view the box of archival materials after seeing the author’s note in the book, but the items mostly remained undisturbed until 2023.

On the fiftieth anniversary of its publication, Ed McGrath emailed former Hawaiian-Pacific Resources Librarian, Annemarie Paikai, to ask about the location of materials he donated long ago. Ed was working on a project to commemorate the book’s anniversary by creating a new digital edition and needed access to the original materials. Since he now lives in California, he requested that the materials be mailed to him. The library quickly agreed to mail the contents to Ed to support this important project. You can learn more about the book’s history and the digitization project in an article published by Hale Magazine 

About a year after the initial contact, Ed emailed Annemarie to let her know he wanted to gift two editions of the digitized book to Leeward for the educational and personal use of students, faculty, and staff. Chancellor Peñaloza accepted this gift on behalf of the College in late spring of 2024. However, issues related to making the book accessible to only current Leeward students, faculty, and staff remained unresolved. Fortunately, with assistance from ITG and support from UH-ITS, both editions, including an audio version narrated by Wai’anae Coast residents and featuring the music of Cyril Pahinui, are now available to the entire UH Community. An accompanying digital photo album is included, and an ʻŌlelo version is expected to be completed in early 2025. We hope you and your students find value in this resource about the Wai’anae Coast.

Historic Wai’anae – A Place of Kings

Use the above link to access both e-book versions and the digital photo album. Soon, this book will also be searchable in the library’s catalog.