Welcome to the Maui Equestrian Lending Library

Aloha and welcome!

I’m Leigh Anne and I’m thrilled to finally share the Maui Equestrian Lending Library with you! This all started during my final semester of library school. I received a frantic message from a friend: a prominent horsewoman’s personal equestrian book collection had been donated to Maui Friends of the Library. It was large, niche, and in rough shape — too specialized for them to realistically sell. The books were heading to the dumpster unless someone could help (librarians will tell you: unfortunately, this happens more than you’d think).

I was just beginning to develop my final project for one of my last classes and realized I could turn this incredible collection into something meaningful. A project that would let me put into practice the skills I had been cultivating over the last two years while also, hopefully, creating a useful resource for the Maui equestrian community had fallen into my lap.

So I drove down to the Puʻunēnē warehouse and picked up about 250 dusty books in battered boxes wondering what I’d gotten myself into. 

Over the course of the semester, I figured out where the library would live, how to clean and preserve the books, and how to organize them in a way that makes them discoverable and useful. Along the way others learned about the project and I received more books. As of today, the Maui Equestrian Lending Library is live! Please have patience if anything isn’t working as expected, it’s a one-woman show. You can currently browse our catalog of over 400 horse books with more coming soon.  

The tack room at my barn is currently being renovated but will soon become the permanent home of the collection. So while the physical library isn’t ready for browsing, the online catalog is available, and books will be located and circulated as they are requested.

Why Become a Member?
In recent years, the Maui equestrian scene has seen many changes as trainers have come and gone and boarding facilities change hands or close. Beyond just saving these books or checking off a class project, my hope is that this library becomes a community resource — a place for horse people of all disciplines to access knowledge and come together in a non-competitive, shared-love-of-horses kind of way.

In the future, I am excited to develop more activities that build on the content of the library, such as hosting guest speakers, organizing a book club, and building a space for connection and learning.

In the meantime, please:
Browse the catalog,
Sign up to become a member, or
Reach out with ideas or to get involved!