Little Free Diverse Libraries & Murals

Hawai‘i FEAST and Greener Reader are seeking donations as we expand the “Little Free Diverse Libraries & Murals” Project. This project involves building and installing twelve more little free libraries with public murals, in the hopes of contributing to the discourse on race and equity issues throghout Hawai'i.

First and foremost, we want to acknowledge that we were inspired by the work of Sarah Kamya, a New York City school counselor who is collecting  book donations that amplify and empower black voices, and distributing those books to Little Free Libraries throughout the US. 

Between July and December 2020 the project team raised over $2,600 and installed three Little Free Diverse Libraries at Ars Cafe, da Shop: Books & Curiosities and Mud Hen Water in Honlulu.

With a recent grant award of $5,000 from the League of Women Voters of Honolulu Education Fund, the project team is fundraising an additional $5,000 to match the grant award, and install a total of 12 Little Free Diverse Libraries throughout each Honolulu City Council District, and other Hawaiian Islands.

Our organizations consider books and art to be effective catalysts of reflection, critical thinking, empathy, and conversation on these topics within communities, or even small groups of friends, and we would like to do our part in facilitating their circulation and implementation in Hawai'i.

To implement this project, our team will:

• Identify twelve additional sites across Hawai'i willing to host the little free libraries. Our goal this round is to partner with retail spaces or organizations in each Honolulu City Council districts, and on neighbor islands. 
• Secure project funding to match our our recent grant award by reaching out to organizations and businesses that are willing to sponsor or donate to this project. 
• Work with local craftsmen to design, construct, and install the little free libraries in select locations. 
• Purchase books by black, brown and indigenious authors and from local, independent bookstores. Initial book selections are being curated here based on titles available at Nā Mea Hawaiʻi, the Black Lives Matter list available through Da Shop Honolulu, Bishop Museum Press, and titles recommended by activists we follow such as Sarah Kamya (check out @littfreediverselibraries and her book list here) and Rachel Cargle (@rachel.cargle and Elizabeth's Bookshop & Writing Centre), and suggestions and donations from the community. Over the long term, we can all swap books on these topics with each other that we would like to share. 
• Select artists who will be responsible for painting the libraries with murals that embody the themes of race and equity, and pay them for their vision, time, and skill. 

Build Public Discourse on Race & Equity 

Communities across the United States are grappling with how to address systemic racism and equity disparities. As activist Angela Davis once said, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be antiracist.” Engaging in literature and artwork that showcase the experiences of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds can be a useful tool in better understanding different perspectives and dismantling the biases people have towards one another. At the core of this project, Hawaiʻi FEAST and Greener Reader seek to contribute to the discussion on race and equity by sharing the work of BIPOC authors through 'little free libraries' and public murals.

Moreover, public spaces—parks, streets, and courtyards—have always been powerful arenas for democratic action, protests, and public discourse on these important topics. We hope the little free libraries and murals created for this project will not only improve the sense of place within the communities they are implemented, but will also serve as a visual memorialization to the ways in which these communities are grappling with issues of race and equity. 

Improve the Built Environment 

Artists have an important role in improving the physical and social fabric that holds communities together. It has been well documented in urban planning studies that public artwork, and public murals in particular, improve a neighborhood’s economic wellbeing and provide residents with a greater sense of place.

Enhance Artist Resources 

Despite the vital need for art, the creative community in Hawai‘i often lacks the fiscal resources to implement projects on a scale that is visible to the public. This project will provide Hawaiʻi FEAST and Greener Reader the opportunity to work with artists to strengthen their story-telling capacity and provide them with the financial resources to implement public art that benefits the people of Hawaiʻi.