Day 284: Humåtak Outdoor Library, Humåtak, Guam
📌APIA Every Day (284) - The Humåtak Outdoor Library was the first public library established in southern Guam in 1933. As building materials were scarce at the time, CHamoru community members volunteered their own labor to construct a small gable-roofed structure with open air bookshelves that allowed residents to obtain and return books on an honor system. This library was the only space that provided English literature to school children in the area and highlights the resourcefulness of CHamoru leaders in making education more obtainable for their community.
In the early years of American Naval rule over Guam, the island’s education system was in an inadequate state. In 1910, only 1,715 students were enrolled in schools across the island—a number that declined further the following year. Enrollment started to improve within the next decade as more schools were constructed and as the government hired more teachers, including prominent Humåtak educator Francisco Quinata Sanchez. In the 1930s, amidst the Naval government’s establishment of two segregated American schools barring CHamoru students from attendance, Sanchez designed the Outdoor Library adjacent to Humåtak’s school building. Local Naval personnel donated books for the shelves and the library opened in 1933 with complete accessibility to the entire community.
Recognizing the Humåtak Outdoor Library’s connection to Francisco Quinata Sanchez and its significance to the CHamoru community, the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. After falling into disuse and disrepair, the library was rehabilitated in 2014 by the Humåtak Community Foundation and Guam Preservation Trust. The neighboring Francisco Q. Sanchez Elementary School (APIA Every Day 148), dedicated in honor of the educator in 1953, is currently also being restored after receiving $3.5 million in rehabilitation funds in 2022. Although the Outdoor Library is no longer in use today, it stands as a historic monument to Humåtak's past, alongside the F.Q. Sanchez School, commemorating the CHamoru community's advocacy for accessible education.
LEARN MORE:
NPS Gallery: Humatak Outdoor Library NRHP Form
Guam Preservation Trust: Rehabilitation of the Umatac Outdoor Library
Guampdn: $3.5M rehabilitation of former FQ Sanchez Elementary School in Humåtak moves forward | New
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