Hawaiian & Pacific Collections Department: Use Policies & Info

The Hawaiian and Pacific Collections are a closed stacks collection with special use policies. For more information, review the sections below.

Accessing the Collections
Using the Reading Room
Borrowing Privileges 
Circulation and Fines Policy

Since the Hawaiian and Pacific Collections are closed stacks, you will need to find and request materials using the discovery layer, OneSearch.

Step-by-step instructions on how to request material are here:

Materials are listed with the following locations: UH Mānoa HP Hawaiian or UH Mānoa HP Pacific. Paging service is available when the department is open. Materials are ready to pick up 10-15 minutes after submitting requests. Materials will be held for you at the circulation counter in our Reading Room for 3 days (and up to 7 days upon request). Present your UH ID/Community Card and/or a photo ID when picking up materials. Library-use only materials will be charged to your account for room-use only and must be returned 5 minutes prior to closing. Non library-use only materials will be charged to your account for a two week loan if you have borrowing privileges. Selected heavily used books and current issues of popular newspapers and periodicals are in the Reading Room. Copies of many Hawaiian and Pacific materials are also available in the general collection of Hamilton Library. Audiovisual materials are located in the audiovisual center at Sinclair Library. Microfilms are located in the Hamilton microforms room. Finding aids for archival and manuscript collections are available at the reference desk. 

The Hawaiian and Pacific Collection's Reading Room is located on the fifth floor of Hamilton Library.  The room has its own circulation counter and reference desk with librarians who can help you with your research. The room is a quiet, pleasant area conducive to serious research and study. You cannot bring your bag into the reading room because our collections hold many unique and irreplaceable items. You may bring in anything you need to work on such as computers, tablets, personal books, paper, pencils, etc., but just not your bag. All bags must be stored in coin-operated lockers. Bring a quarter to use lockers (you will get your quarter back when finished). You may not bring any food, drinks or candy into the reading room, including water bottles. 

The room has wifi available to all University of Hawaiʻi students, faculty, and staff. Day and multi-day passes are available for visitors. If you would like one of these passes, please visit our reference desk to speak with a librarian who can sponsor you or e-mail us prior to your visit. Most books (except Rare Books, fragile, or tightly bound books) may be scanned in accordance with current copyright laws. We do not have a photocopier machine. Public-use flatbed and overhead scanners are available; scanning is free, but an external drive is required to save the digital files. Phones and taking pictures with your phones is allowed, but please silence your phones. If you receive a phone call please take the conversation outside the reading room so you do not disturb others. 

Anyone may use Hawaiian and Pacific Collections materials in our Reading Room. UH Students, faculty, and staff can borrow materials for 14 days and renew materials once. Community borrower card holders (Community User, UH Retiree, Hawaiʻi State/City Agencies, Research Organization, and Association Members) and East West Center program participants may borrow up to 10 items at a time for 14 days and renew materials once. To borrow materials, UH students, faculty and staff must have a current and registered UH ID. Non-UH affiliated users holding a Community Card, a UH Retire Card, a Research Organization/Corporation Card, an Associate Membership Card, or a Hawaiʻi State/City Agency Card must bring the card and a photo ID. East West Center program participants must bring the EWC card and a photo ID. All others must bring a photo ID.

Users with borrowing privileges must physically visit the Hawaiian and Pacific Collections to borrow books. A current and registered UH ID is required. If you are a student, faculty or staff at one of the other UH campuses, you can place a mediated request for materials in our collections through your home library's circulation department. Duplicate copies of selected books may be borrowed from the Library for 14 days, after which they may be renewed one time, for a total one-month loan period. Renewals are placed online through My Account page and are not accepted via telephone, fax or email. Borrowed books may be returned to Hawaiian and Pacific Collections or the main book return/drop on the first floor after hours. Overdue fines will be assessed at $.50 per day per book. Fines are computed daily, including weekends and holidays. There is no grace period. When the overdue fine reaches $10.00 (maximum), the item is considered lost. An additional processing fee of $10.00 is assessed PLUS the cost of replacing the material (the minimum item replacement fee is currently at $60.00). Overdue fine payments may be made at the Hamilton Library Business Office.

Materials that do circulate include copy 1 of each book/edition, rare books, manuscripts, archives, reference, serials, journals, magazines, class holds, and selected older or fragile books. To learn if an item may be borrowed from the Library, please check at the Circulation Counter.