Depository Spotlight: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) is a land, sea, and space grant university located in Honolulu and is the flagship of the 11-campus University of Hawaiʻi System. The 12,968 undergraduates and 4,742 graduate students represent the most ethnically diverse student body in the U.S. The UHM Library’s participation in the FDLP began in 1907 when the university was established, and the staff celebrated their 110th anniversary in 2017.

The collection serves the faculty, students, and staff at the University; state and Federal government agencies; researchers from the U.S. Mainland and foreign countries; and members of the general public. Depository coordinator Gwen Sinclair also volunteers to answer questions for the Government Information Online service. Serving distant patrons is a commonplace occurrence, and now that much Government information is available online, the staff can usually meet their needs.

To promote the collection, the staff participate in the Gov Doc a Day Flickr group, create social media posts featuring mascot Amos the Army Mule, create displays, and maintain over 30 LibGuides that describe the collections, services, and resources. The Library periodically invites the members of Hawaiʻi’s congressional delegation to visit the Government Documents Collection.

The Library has been a regional depository since 1977. In addition to the State of Hawaiʻi, the Library also serves American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The Government Documents Collection is a Hawaiʻi State Data Center affiliate and co-sponsors annual Census Bureau workshops.

A disastrous flood in 2004 destroyed 95 percent of the Federal documents collection. The Library has successfully rebuilt the collection, largely with donations from other libraries, and it now contains about 80 percent of the pre-flood holdings.

The Library is a preservation steward for United States Reports, with holdings that extend back to the 18th century. One of the greatest treasures in the collection is a group of War of the Rebellion volumes that once belonged to Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, Hawaiʻi’s delegate to Congress from 1903-1922.

GPO thanks the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for their long history of service to their community and the Nation.