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Skyline\u2019s Middle Street station, set to open on Oct. 16, is one of two locations proposed for the library vending machine pilot program.\n(David Croxford\/Civil Beat\/2024)<\/p>\n
The city wants livelier rail stations. The library system wants more access to their books. Can a vending machine pilot project satisfy both goals?<\/p>\n
Skyline stations may start lending library books via vending machines in an attempt to both boost the appeal of the Honolulu rail system and make library books more accessible as limiting staffing shortens branch hours.<\/p>\n
The idea stems from the Hawai\u02bbi State Library System, which started thinking during the Covid-19 pandemic about how to cater to book-hungry patrons during branch closures and staffing shortages that still persist. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the city\u2019s transportation department sees it as another opportunity to beef up the rail system by making stations more like community hubs with lively activities.<\/p>\n
Plans for an 18-month pilot project to test the idea received a thumbs-up Wednesday from the City Council but are still in the early stages. For starters, the library needs to sign an agreement with the city\u2019s Department of Transportation Services for use of space.<\/p>\n
Mallory Fujitani, Special Assistant to the State Librarian, said other next steps include beginning the procurement process to purchase the machines, each of which she said costs about $50,000, and figuring which books to stock and how they\u2019ll be distributed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skyline\u2019s Middle Street station, set to open on Oct. 16, is one of two locations proposed for the library vending machine pilot program.
\n(David Croxford\/Civil Beat\/2024)<\/p>\n
The resolution passed by the City Council during its monthly meeting Wednesday, which was introduced by council members Augie Tulba and Radiant Cordero, calls for an 18-month pilot program<\/a> to install library vending machines at two Skyline stations.<\/p>\n A Win-Win?<\/p>\n If all goes according to plan, patrons could scan their library cards and choose from a selection of library books, which could then be returned to either one the vending machines or any one of the library system\u2019s 51 branches.<\/p>\n Fujitani said some of the branches have only a few full-time, permanent employees.\u00a0In those cases, she said, \u201cyou\u2019re limited with how many public hours you can provide to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Hours vary between branches<\/a>. The Waipahu branch, for example, is closed Sundays and Mondays and is open until 6 p.m. on two days and 4 p.m. the remaining three days. Kaimuk\u012b\u2019s branch, on the other hand, is open six days per week and until 7 p.m. on two of those days. <\/p>\n People who work during the day might not be able to visit their local libraries<\/a> until after the branches close. The library vending machines would provide an option for people interested in borrowing books after hours.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople want more weekend hours, or late night hours, after work hours,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just don\u2019t have the staffing.\u201d<\/p>\n As the Hawai\u02bbi State Public Library System struggles to maintain services, the city wants to add more attractions to its nascent rail system.<\/p>\n Department of Transportation Services spokesperson Travis Ota said his department supports the pilot project as part of its strategy \u2014 along with newly planted fresh produce<\/a> \u2014 to add vibrancy to Skyline stations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that this measure will foster innovation and enhance activities at our Skyline stations,\u201d he said in an emailed statement, \u201cmaking them true community hubs where we are currently planning regular community activities, food hubs, and other services.\u201d<\/p>\n Stations are still a long way from that vision. Skyline\u2019s initial leg, which opened at the end of June 2023, operates only between East Kapolei and a defunct Aloha Stadium. Ridership hovers around 100,000 people per month<\/a>, a drop in the bucket compared to TheBus, which is more expansive and transports about 3.5 million per month<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mixed Reactions<\/p>\n Skyline\u2019s second leg, which will include the airport and is expected to draw more ridership, is scheduled to open Oct. 16. Its upcoming new eastern terminus, at Middle Street, is the proposed site for one of the pilot library vending machines.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other site is at Waipahu Transit Center, where Bryan Rabilas, 49, was coming home from his shift at Pali Momi early Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n Rabilas isn\u2019t much of a reader. He prefers listening to short science fiction stories on YouTube, and he said his commute is short anyway \u2014 only about eight minutes on Skyline and a few minutes of biking on either side of that.\u00a0<\/p>\n But he likes the idea of sprucing up the rail stations. When he travels to places like New York City, Thailand and Taiwan, he said, he likes to pick lodging near train lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJust before you leave the rail station, you know, there\u2019s kiosks like coffee or whatever food and all that kind of stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what should be around here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On the other hand, University of Hawaii M\u0101noa student Siralyn Agustin, 25, said she\u2019s a big reader and is open to the idea of a library vending machine.\u00a0<\/p>\n Between leaving her home in Waipahu, hopping on the rail to Aloha Stadium, transferring to TheBus Route A and riding that to UH, her commute takes about an hour \u2014 plenty of time to read a book.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would use it, I think, depending on what\u2019s available in the machine and how it shows the summary or description of the book,\u201d she said. She said her go-to genres are young adult and manga.<\/p>\n Fujitani said it\u2019s still to be determined which books would be stocked in the vending machines, along with how delivery workers will stock them and which branch or branches will supply the books.\u00a0<\/p>\n A goal of the pilot program is to figure out the answers to these questions and gauge interest in a larger, more permanent presence.<\/p>\n The pilot project could take months or longer to start up, Fujitani said. Her department still needs to draft and sign an agreement with the transportation services department. It also has yet to begin the procurement process to purchase the machines.<\/p>\n![\"Views](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/241024-dc-StateLibrary-3433-1024x683.jpg\")
Hours vary between different state library branches, often depending on staffing. At the Hawai\u02bbi State Library, the main branch, closing time is 7 p.m. on Thursdays and 4 p.m. most of the rest of the week. (David Croxford\/Civil Beat\/2024)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/231201-kf-Skyline-Pan-001-1024x683.jpg\")
The flow of Skyline riders at Waipahu Transit Center was light early Tuesday evening. Train arrivals every 10 minutes each deposited a handful of riders on their ways home. (Kevin Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2023)<\/p>\n
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