Vava’u Public Library

 We are the Vava’u Public Library. A small community library situated on a tiny island in the South Pacific called        Vava’u in the  Kingdom of Tonga.

We have been established since 1983 and are the longest running non-government, non-church organization in       Vava’u and until this year, we were the only public   library in all of Tonga.

In 2019 the library underwent a full renovation into a Children’s library. The  library provides after school activities such as tutoring, art classes, traditional dance classes and we have a popular structured Saturday program that         includes  drama, reading, arts and  games. 

The library also provides school scholarships to children in need  who meet our     academic requirements. School fees are paid by  the children’s families. Some children do not get to go to school because their parents can not afford the fees.

We have one full time librarian who is supported by a dedicated  group of local volunteers.

The library has been wholly supported by our annual fundraising  activities and    private donations from the tourist and the local business community however,     due to COVID-19, our tiny island chain has been closed to visitors   and will   remain closed to visitors until 2022. This has had a devastating impact on our local community as well as     our ability to raise funds to continue the library program.

We are trying to raise $6,400USD to cover the daily operating  expenses of the library.

$4,175USD for librarian wages (yes..that is a year's salary after we give our librarian a raise)
$1,050USD for utlilities 
$650USD for a new laptop
$525USD for a library software program

The library is also in desperate need of new books. Any additional monies raised over operating costs will be used
to buy and ship desperately needed brand new books and provide scholarship funds to those in need.

This video was made for our last fundraising year we had in 2019.