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BIG ISLAND BONSAI ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS UH HILO LIBRARY

Gift will promote history and culture of bonsai

(Hilo, Hawaiʻi) — The art and culture of Bonsai will be more widely available due to a generous gift from the Big Island Bonsai Association (BIBA). The Hilo-based bonsai club donated $2,000 to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s Mookini Library and enabled the library to build a comprehensive bonsai resource collection.

"Our club is very pleased to be able to support the UH Hilo library in this way," said BIBA President James Mimaki. "We appreciate how the books will ensure a lasting legacy of knowledge for a new generation of bonsai enthusiasts."

Mimaki explained that the idea of supporting a book collection stemmed from a bonsai rescue mission two years ago. "Jiro Tanaka called me after the earthquake in 2006 and told me his bonsai collection was devastated, so a group of us drove out for three days to help transport plants back to Hilo for repotting," Mimaki said.

Bonsais were replanted then sold to BIBA members and the community. Mimaki said that Tanaka asked that the association keep the proceeds from the plants sold. "Our members came up with the idea of initiating the Jiro Tanaka BIBA Bonsai Book Collection, because he also had a collection of bonsai books that he wanted to donate," Mimaki said. "All of the volunteers appreciated what Jiro had done and as a group, decided to honor his generosity with donations to the UHH Mookini and Hilo Public Libraries."

"This gift has really allowed us to focus on our library mission - to preserve and promote our island wide culture to an extended student and community audience," said Chuck Malenfant, Public Services Librarian, UH Hilo.

Approximately fifty books were purchased on a variety of bonsai-related topics ranging from art and photography to the history of bonsai and more books will be bought until funds are exhausted.

The public will have a chance to learn more about bonsai very soon. Plans are underway to have an informal exhibit of some of Tanaka’s former Bonsai plants. Live demonstrations on the UH Hilo Library Lanai will take place from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, on Tuesday, October 21, 2008. This event will feature demonstrations by members of the Big Island Bonsai Association and a comprehensive display of live bonsai.

BIBA is a non-profit association organized to promote and perpetuate the art and culture of Bonsai within the County of Hawaiʻi.

The University of Hawaiʻi Hilo is a comprehensive university with six undergraduate colleges, six Master’s programs and two doctoral programs. Enrollment has doubled since 1980 to more than 3,600 students coming from all fifty states and more than 40 countries. Please visit www.uhh.hawaii.edu.

The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation is an independent, university-related, nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise private funds according to priorities determined by the academic leadership of the University of Hawaiʻi and approved by the Board of Regents. Founded in 1955, the Foundation provides a full range of fund raising and alumni relations services for all ten UH campuses. Please visit www.uhf.hawaii.edu.