WCC Library Learning Commons

Lexington Hawaiian Room Exhibit and Event

2012-11-27T10:29:00.000-10:00

Image: Hawaiian Room Collection, Hula Preservation Society

For nearly 30 years, the nightclub of Manhattanʻs swank Lexington Hotel showcased musicians, singers and dancers from Hawaii. The Hula Preservation Society's multi-media exhibit, "The Hawaiian Room: Dine, Dance, Romance, the Lexington" provides a fascinating history through photos, newspaper clippings, and a documentary film.

Windward Community College is thrilled to host the exhibit in the LLCʻs atrium - do come see it! And donʻt miss the chance to meet six "aunties" who performed at the Hawaiian Room. They will appear in-person at the LLC on Thursday, December 6th from 2–3:00 p.m.

Chancellor's Gala Dinner

2012-11-26T20:27:00.000-10:00

On Saturday, July 28, Windward Community College rolled out the red carpet, complete with photographers and champagne welcome, at its Chancellor's Gala Dinner to celebrate the opening of the Library Learning Commons. See the full story and photos from the UH Foundation.

Library Blessing Video

2012-07-05T14:35:00.001-10:00

Watch the June 12, 2012 Blessing of the new Library Learning Commons building.

Blessing the Building

2012-06-19T11:19:00.000-10:00

The campus ‘ohana attended a blessing of the Library Learning Commons on June 12, 2012.

Uncle Earl Kawa'a prepares to give the blessing.

Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language students and faculty made a colorful procession from Hale A'o to the new building. WCC music instructor Aaron Sala performed the oli (chant). Chancellor Doug Dykstra and Head Librarian Nancy Heu each expressed gratitude and delight, and Uncle Earl Kawa'a gave the blessing.

Nancy Heu welcomes everyone to the new building.

The maile lei was untied to symbolically open the building, and all present entered to explore the new space.

The Library, Computing Services, Media Center and Ka Piko Student Success Center staff will move into their new areas before the start of the fall semester. A formal grand opening ceremony will take place August 29, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at the entrance to the Library Learning Commons.

Ground Blessing Video from WCC Film Club

2012-03-21T16:11:00.001-10:00

Thank you to Robert Barclay and the WCC Film Club for capturing the groundbreaking ceremony on March 19, 2010.

Almost two years later, we are close to finishing the new Library Learning Commons, which will be an elegant, friendly and welcoming gathering space. Designed to inspire learning and provide the services that will support student success, the new facility will house the Library, Media Center, Computing Services and the Ka Piko Student Success Center with its testing and tutoring services and labs for speech, math and writing. The new facility also houses a media lab with high end equipment for video and audio editing, video and audio studios, a classroom for library instruction, eight study rooms for group work, two meeting rooms, and lots more study space with lounge seating, booth seating, and tables for group and individual work. We anticipate at least 25 additional computers for students to use. And lastly, the coffee shop will have a coffee bar and booth seating.

The building will be operational for the Fall 2012 semester with the grand opening ceremony and celebration activities to be held September 4-7.

For more detail, see our Library Learning Commons blog.

Which includes
- Furniture plans
- Floor plan w/ square footage
- Aug 2008 exterior sketches
- Virtual fly-through

Again, thank you to the Film Club and their wonderful efforts. We look forward to your capturing the opening ceremonies and the wonders of the new building itself.

Aloha,
Nancy Heu
Head Librarian

Coffee Shop Update

2012-02-01T17:53:00.001-10:00

Windward Community College is soliciting proposals from food and beverage providers to operate a coffee shop as part of the Library Learning Commons. The coffee shop expands our services and enhances our goal of creating a friendly, welcoming place for students, college staff and members of the community to gather and learn.

Take a virtual journey through the coffee shop.

Centrally located, customers from the library, nearby classrooms, Paliku Theatre, the Imaginarium and campus events will patronize the coffee shop day and night.

The coffee shop features natural light, views of the Koolaus, and a spacious, inviting lanai.

The coffee shop comes furnished and partially equipped.

The service area has plenty of storage.

The space has a fresh, inviting design.

Details

Invitation Letter
Call for Offers
Campus Map
Exterior View
Furniture Floor Plan
Interior Elevations
Provided Furniture and Equipment
Lighting & Electric Plan
Plumbing Plan

Furniture Plans

2011-09-02T15:54:00.000-10:00

Download Furniture Plans (pdf)

With building completion in sight (perhaps as early as February!), we have turned our attention to the furniture.

Nancy Heu checks the furniture specifications.

We're pouring over specifications, approving color schemes, and counting chairs. Did we plan for every room to have the right type of furniture? The right number? Have we missed anything?

Final Floor Plans

2011-01-13T16:51:00.000-10:00

This is what they're building! Download the final floor plans to view them in detail.

Fence Mural Gallery

2010-11-18T12:53:00.001-10:00

Artist: Former student Richard Bartlett.
Photo: CC BY-NC-SA WCC Library

Windward artists have delighted in the large canvas offered by the fence surrounding the construction zones.

Artist: Current WCC student Vana. Photo: CC By-NC-SA WCC Library

Current, former, and future students have added their artistic expressions to the mix (the latter from incoming freshmen attending Frosh Camp).

Artists: 2010 Frosh Camp. Photo: CC By-NC-SA Windward CC Library

One WCC art instructor, Norm Graffam, created a whimsical portrait of another WCC art instructor, Snowden Hodges.

WCC art instructor Snowden Hodges poses by his likeness, painted
by WCC art instructor Norm Graffam. Photo: CC By-NC-SA Windward CC Librar y

Graffiti artist, or "writers", have also added their flair to the project.

Artist: Mr. Jars. Photo: CC By-NC-SA Windward CC Librar y

You can view more of the fantastic art on our gallery of murals on Flickr.

Also, check out this article from Honolulu Magazine on graffiti artists in Hawaii.

Make Your Mark

2010-08-16T17:50:00.000-10:00

Do you feel the creative urge?

Just itching to paint something?

Satisfy your creative impulse by painting a mural on the fence surrounding the Learning Library Commons construction site.

WCC students, college groups, staff & faculty may request mural space to display their artistic creativity.

Get your Guidelines and Proposal Form, get your space, get organized, and get your inspiration up before the taggers start hitting the fence!

Deconstruction: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2010-06-23T14:40:00.006-10:00

In May, present and former faculty and administrators gathered to hold a ceremony to honor and bid farewell to the the former State Hospital's "Building L" — known on the WCC campus as "Lono" and, more recently, "Hale Mānaleo."

Over the past several weeks, the contractors have carefully dismantled the building, salvaging most of the materials to be reused or recycled.

The metal from the building, including the air conditioning ducts, will be recycled.
Useful items such as fixtures and doors can be put into service elsewhere on campus.

The wood planks from the roof will be milled and used for accents throughout the Library Learning Commons.

Demolition will likely begin this week to break down the concrete walls, floors and foundations, all of which will be ground down and reused in the construction of the new building.

Contractors have found several interesting artifacts, such as empty bottles hidden under the crawlspaces, likely left from hospital patients hiding forbidden alcohol. And under the carpet and tiles of The Learning Center — where students once took tests and consulted with tutors — a shuffleboard was found painted on the floor.

We look forward to the many surprises yet to come, and we hope you do, too!

Live WebCam of LLC Construction Site

2010-05-17T05:52:00.016-10:00

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Notice to Proceed

2010-04-20T11:09:00.002-10:00

Our contractor has received the official “Notice to Proceed” with construction.

We'll see activity as early as next week when they begin setting up trailers and connecting to electrical, telephone and cable feeds.

Work begins in earnest on May 17^th with preparation of the staging area, installation of fencing along the project perimeter, and deconstruction of Hale Mānaleo.

Thanks to Curtis Newton for use of the photo "Green Light = Go" (CC BY-NC-SA), based on the photo "GO" by Ludovic Bertron (CC BY).

An Address from DeEtta Catherine Wilson

2010-04-19T14:21:00.004-10:00

WCC's first librarian, DeEtta Catherine Wilson

DeEtta Catherine Wilson served as Windward Community College's first librarian from 1972-1996. During her tenure, she transformed an old building into a comfortable place to do research and study, all while dreaming of a building better suited to meet the needs of its users. Favorable circumstances, hard planning and a little luck have all had a hand in bringing her dream to reality.

Prof. Peggy Regentine, DeEtta Catherine Wilson, Architect Terry McFarland

Mrs. Wilson honored us by speaking at the Groundbreaking Ceremony. Here's what she said:

Aloha,

Today’s groundbreaking is a great beginning and a thankful conclusion to many years of planning for the new building that will bring together a group of services to students, faculty and staff that have long been located in separate “make-do” facilities. As the years passed, advances in technology have brought about many changes in the plans so that now the new building will be quite different from the one we envisioned in the early years.

Those early years were a real adventure for me! The first two years I was both librarian and media specialist so there was lots to do, such as creating the kinds of work spaces we needed out of two shower rooms and two solitary confinement rooms with bars on the windows.

In the old facility we started with only two thirds of the building. The other third was a typing classroom. We scrounged several boards and bricks for shelves and put a few reference books on them. The windows in the building had hinges that were rusted in the open position so, in came the rain and wind and they brought on the mold and mildew problems.

After a few years, the wall between the library and the classroom was demolished; media production moved to its own building and we expanded our space into the entire building as it is now. We went through adding air conditioning and dehumidifying, carpeted the floors, replaced the leaking roof with a new one, converted the card catalog to an online catalog, made room for additional storage components and changed automation systems several times.

Through it all, as the staff and materials collection grew, and the library instruction units for all English 100 students were completed, the vision of a new facility was always with us. But that’s all in the past and now we are entering a new era. The new building will have the right kinds of spaces for the many types of services to be offered, and it will be a green building, with all the good things that designation implies.

The format in which information is stored has continued to change and will continue to change over time. The library as a place where those formats—whether in the pages of a book or in various kinds of electronic devices are organized and made available to library users will also continue to change. It’s a real challenge to provide a place for those materials and also a place for study and thinking and absorbing knowledge.

Just a word about the Hawaiian name for the building — La‘akea. The meaning of La‘akea is so appropriate for a library as well as the other services in the building. It is: the sacred light of enlightenment and knowledge. Knowledge brings enlightenment and that is what a library stands for. It fits, doesn’t it? The word and its meaning were given to us several years ago by a friend, Mahiai Beamer.

And now, I want to say thank you to Nancy Heu and all the others who carried on the huge task of developing our hopes and dreams into a tangible reality. It will be a beautiful building! Let’s all of us here today come again to celebrate when the new building actually opens!

Aloha no!

Groundbreaking Ceremony - Video from Ka 'Ohana

2010-04-12T18:40:00.000-10:00

Windward Community College's student newspaper, Ka 'Ohana, published this video on the ground breaking ceremony as a supplement to their front page story, "WCC breaks ground for library".

Thanks to Theresa Worden for her video production, and to Lance Sabado and Victor Siilata for the story.

Groundbreaking Ceremony Photos

2010-03-19T14:45:00.006-10:00

Former Windward CC student Pi‘ilani Smith performs hula.

UH President M.R.C. Greenwood and WCC Chancellor Doug Dykstra help Rev. Ka‘upu untie the maile lei during the blessing.

First line of groundbreaking participants (from left to right): Architect Terry McFarland, WCC Librarian Nancy Heu, Retired WCC Librarian DeEtta Wilson, Rep. Ken Ito, Sen. Jill Tokuda, UH President M.R.C. Greenwood.

WCC Hawaiian Studies students participate in the groundbreaking.

Photos by Peter Tully Owen.

A New View

2010-03-18T11:02:00.003-10:00

Our jaws dropped open when we saw this rendering of the new building. You can download a larger version to zoom in on the fine details.

Groundbreaking Ceremony Set

2010-03-11T15:35:00.002-10:00

The Groundbreaking Ceremony at the future site of the Library Learning Commons will take place Friday, March 19th, 2010 from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. between Hale Mānaleo and Hale Mana‘opono.

Archaeological Assessment of the Project Site

2010-02-18T09:36:00.000-10:00

Those interested in the history of Kāneʻohe, the Hawaiʻi State Hospital, and Windward Community College may like to read the draft Archaeological Assessment for the Proposed Windward Community College Library & Learning Resources Center Project, excerpted from Windward Community College Library/Learning Resource Center Design Analysis, Final Design, August 7, 2009.

The Tomorrow Library Today

2010-02-12T10:51:00.001-10:00

In this article from Architects Hawaii's newsletter, Glen Yokotake discusses how contemporary ideas about libraries have shaped the planning of our new building.

Yokotake, Glen. "The Tomorrow Library Today." Excerpts from Sketches 5.4 (Oct. - Dec. 2009). ©2010 Architects Hawaii Limited. Used by permission.

Pre-Bid Conference & Site Walk-Through

2009-12-08T13:54:00.003-10:00

Today, potential bidders attended the pre‑bid conference and job site walk‑through for the Library and Learning Center Windward Community College Project No. UH 06-W50. Bidders will have until 2:30pm on January 20, 2010 to submit their bids (details).

We anticipate the project will start in February or March with the deconstruction of the building in the picture, Hale Manaleo.

Going Out To Bid

2009-11-24T14:49:00.001-10:00

Soon the bidding process for construction on the building will begin.

Starting next week, interested contractors will receive detailed plans and specifications. They'll meet with planners and take a pre-bid walk-through of the building site. We expect their quotes to be submitted in late January, with demolition work beginning as early as February or March.

UPDATE: The Notice to Bidders has been posted to the State of Hawaii website. 11/30/2009

Image from: www.flickr.com/photos/memestate/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

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Service Desk Virtual Fly-By

2009-11-04T10:45:00.002-10:00

This simulation shows some of the ideas for the layout and design of the central service desk planned for the new building.

Also take a look at the Coffee Shop, the Hawaiian Collection Room, and other parts of the library.

Please feel free to offer a suggestion or tell us what you think.

Coffee Shop Virtual Walk-Through

2009-04-23T15:23:00.010-10:00

This simulation shows some of the ideas for the layout and design of the coffee shop planned for the new building.

Also take a look at the Service Desk, the Hawaiian Collection Room and other parts of the library.

As always, we welcome your comments!

Virtual Fly-Thru of Hawaiian Room

2009-04-23T12:27:00.013-10:00

This clip from Architects Hawaii illustrates one conceptual layout for the Hawaiian Collection Room in the new building. The room will allow easy access to materials related to Hawaii. The plans call for a prominent display of WCC's pahu - though the drum in this simulation appears much larger than the actual one.

Also take a look at the Service Desk, the Coffee Shop, and other parts of the library.

As always, we welcome your comments!