Originally conceived to facilitate remote class participation for students, the implementation of phone booths emerged as a prominent attribute of the library's offerings at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Established in 1907, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is the Aloha state’s flagship university. The largest building on campus at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is Hamilton Library. Encompassing over 400,000 square feet and home to more than 3.5 million volumes, Hamilton Library caters to the academic needs of approximately 19,000 students at Mānoa, in addition to serving the broader University of Hawaiʻi system. The phased reopening of the campus after the initial COVID-19 pandemic surge revealed a blend of in-person and virtual class formats, presenting University Librarian Clem Guthro with the challenge of providing suitable spaces for students to engage in remote learning. In response, Guthro repurposed several graduate student study carrels into "Zoom rooms," a solution that quickly reached capacity due to high demand.
"The study carrels we converted to Zoom rooms were fully booked and we still had demand, so I needed to find another solution."
Facing increased student return to campus and the growing popularity of these converted study spaces, Guthro recognized the need to expand such offerings without infringing upon the essential study areas reserved for graduate students. Traditional construction options were deemed impractical due to lengthy approval processes required by the University’s facilities team. Inspiration struck Guthro during a visit to an airport, where the sight of a phone booth in one of the terminals sparked the idea of a novel solution to this spatial challenge.
"They’re full from the moment we open until we close, every day… If the library had more floor space I’d add more Pillar Booths"
