It was always the Little Library That Could. But now, after some 42 years, the nonprofit Makiki Community Library will close June 9, then liquidate its assets by year’s end.

The library survived for decades on goodwill, donations and volunteers. Its cozy reading-room vibe was a retro contrast to today’s multi-level, tech-conscious cavernous libraries — an oasis of sorts amid the bustle of Makiki District Park. Unless long-shot talks come to fruition between the city (which owns the building) and the state (which runs the library system), it will be the denouement for a library championed in the 1970s by then-Mayor Frank Fasi and then-state Rep. Neil Abercrombie after McCully was chosen over Makiki for a new state library.

Getting tech-savvy in the classroom

Hawaii’s public schools are smart to join a national movement that folds computer science into everyday K-12 education, starting in elementary school. Superintendent Christina Kishimoto has said new standards, adopted by the state Board of Education this month, aim to engage all students. But that doesn’t mean a mandatory computer science class.

“That would just kill the innovation and creativity that this field of work provides in a learning environment,” Kishimoto said. Rather, teachers will be tasked with designing classroom lessons that mirror real-world (cyber-world) experiences.