Sandy Akana Retiring From Kailua Library
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Library branch manager Sandy Akana (left)
is retiring this month from the Kailua
Library, and her children’s librarian Patti
Meerians will step up to fill the job. Photo
by Nathalie Walker, staff photographer.
The community is invited to wear red on Dec. 29 and attend Kailua Library branch manager Sandy Akana’s retirement party in the building’s courtyard.
“They want to send me off with good luck,” explained Akana, who has been with the library since 1988. (Her staff of 11 people welcomes patrons to join the dinner and dancing to the King Pins, weather permitting. RSVP to 266-9911.)
Kailua’s children’s librarian for 16 years, Patti Meerians, will replace Akana in January. It seems fitting since, when Akana worked her first library job at St. Andrew’s Priory in 1973, Meerians was her student helper.
Their working relationship has been very successful, Meerians said: “She’s wonderful. She is very professional, warm and generous. She cares about the community, the library, and working in partnership with everyone.”
After a couple years at the Priory, Akana worked at Kaneohe Library where she started the bookmobile. She then opened the Waimanalo Public and School Library and remained there for 10 years. When her family moved to Kailua she transferred to the Kailua Library in 1988.
That’s when she established the Friends of Kailua Library to maintain the building. “I wanted people to feel comfortable when they were in the library,” she explained, “and I wanted an environment that was conducive to reading and learning.”
Under Akana’s leadership, Kailua Library won the Team of the Year Award from the state library system. The staff banded together to add evening hours, and the community collaborated to transform the courtyard into a garden that readers could enjoy. The team also obtained a contractor and a financial donation that enabled them to install an electricity-saving device.
Retiring after 30 years means Akana can focus on her health, as she has osteoarthritis. A widow of 10 years, Akana is happy that her youngest son, Christopher, has graduated from UH. She also looks forward to more time with family including daughters Liane Lokelani and Christie Sasaki, and her seven grandchildren.
But she will remain involved with books and reading as a part-time resource teacher in the specialized reading lab at St. John Vianney Parish School, where daughter Tammy teaches third grade. Akana also will continue to massage clients in the Lomi Vaa shop at Windward Mall. She’ll also remain on the publication review committee for the Kailua Historical Society’s upcoming “big book” on Kailua, and she’s involved in a book project on Waimanalo with artist Patrick Ching and Lincoln Yamashita.
“I’ll miss the people,” admitted Akana, a 1973 graduate of the University of Hawaii School of Library and Information Science. “You never know who comes through the door. It’s always a variety.
“Partnerships have been great, and I’ll miss the people, the staff and the community.”
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