Library – How to

Open Hours: Monday-Friday 8am to 4:30pm, closed 12pm to 1pm

The Alele Public Library is located on the second floor of the Alele building.

We have a wide range of books available for borrowing and a reference collection which is for use only within the library.

How to use the Library

children chosing a book

You need a Borrower Card, valid for 1 year

  • Adults (over 18) and Students of the College of the Marshall Islands : $2.5.

You can arrange to renew the book you borrowed at the library or by telephone for an additional 14-day period provided the book is not in demand.

Overdue charge is 5 cents a day in any kind of materials signed out.

Any lost or damaged items will be charged for at the discretion of the Librarian.

The Pacific Collection

The library maintains the Pacific Collection room – a range of published and unpublished material specific to the Marshall Islands and Oceania, which is available for researchers, for on-site reading only. This collection is not available for borrowing.

Pacific room - selection Pacific room - selection

Bookmobile

Books for Sale

Alele carries a range of books for sale. Subject materials is specific to the Marshall Islands and the region.

Photocopy

The library offers photocopy service, with discounted price for members.

Preservation and Promotion

Shell collection
Open Hours: Monday-Friday 8am to 4:30pm, closed 12pm to 1pm

Museum

Our goal is to to promote and preserve Marshallese culture and we organize regular activities such as:

  • Sponsor annual event, “Lutok Kobban Alele” (Cultural Festival) on the last week of September
  • Educational outreach activities which have brought more and more school children to visit the museum, and increased the general public’s understanding of the importance of the preservation of our heritage, and the importance of Alele itself.
  • Catalog and digitalize the 600 VCR records from 1985 – 2000’s of traditional oral literature and culture.
  • Maintain the various collections

Visit and guided tours

Alele museum tourThe Museum is located on the first floor of the Alele Building.

You can visit the museum during open hours. Entrance if free for all, though donations are welcome.

Teachers and groups are welcome to reserve a guided tour with the museum manager. Tours can be either in English or in Marshallese. Please contact us to make an appointment.

Activities through Media

Alele produce a weekly 30-minute radio program broadcasted throughout the country. This program includes traditional stories, proverbs, upcoming news, songs of the past, and current activities at Alele.

On going information and updates about Alele are provided through this website and our Facebook page. Follow us on Facebook and keep-up with our activities!

Bogan Collection

Bogan collection

In 1994 Eugene Bogan graciously donated his collection of Marshallese handicrafts made in 1940’s to Alele Museum. This is a memorial collection to Lt. Eugene Bogan, a man whose love of the Marshalls began during World War II and culminated in his contribution of these rare and treasured items.

Joachim deBrum Collection

Joaquim deBrum self-portrait - Likiep atoll

This is a collection of prints made from of over 2,500 glassplate negatives which shows scenes of Marshallese life and landscapes during 1880’s to 1930’s, taken by Joachim deBrum. This is by far the most historically significant collection of photographs found in the Marshall Islands, and perhaps anywhere in the Pacific region, taken by a Pacific Islander during this period.

Maps

Micronesian Map

Micronesia Map
click to enlarge

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, 1973.
Covers Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Republic of Palau. Made in the Trust Territory period, but most accurate, with colors.

 $30.00

 

Map Micronesia - detail of the RMI area
Map Micronesia – detail of the RMI area

Folktales, legends

Man this reef

A translated autobiography of a storyteller.
159 pages, Gerald Knight, Micronitor Press, Marshall Islands, 1992.

$20.00

Bwebwenaaton Etto

– A collection of Marshallese Legends and Traditions –
a compilation of stories and legends, which have appeared scattered in a variety of publications and for the first time, have now been published into a book. The major themes of the stories cover the topics of creation, the origin of islands and places, social customs, animal tales, oral history, and stories of the famous Marshallese trickster “Letao”. 188 pages, Jane Dawning, Dirk H.R. Spennemann, and Margaret Bennett. RMI Historic Preservation Office, 1992.

Out-of-print, please inquire

From the mouth of the monster eel

Introduces 6 stories from Micronesia (Marshalls, Guam, Yap), with appropriate reading level for children (7-8th grade). 53 pages with some illustrations in black and white, Bo Flood, Fulcrum Publishing, 1996.

Out-of-print, please inquire

Inon in Majel

-Marshallese Folktales-
is a collective work on old Marshallese folktales and oral histories, which have not been published in a book form. Also, this book was written in both English and Marshallese language in one book for the first time. 134pages, Terry Mote, Donna K. Stone, Kinuko Kowata and Bernice Joash. Alele Museum, 1999.

Out-of-print, please inquire

Note: out-of-print books are available in consultation at the library

Books about the Marshall Islands

Jemoot in Eonod - Traditional Fishing Methods of the Marshall Islands
Jemoot in Eonod

Traditional Fishing Methods of the Marshall Islands.
By Donna K. Stone
Part of the Traditional Lifeways English Series published in 2001/02 by the Alele Museum, this book describes some of the methods and tools traditionally used by the Marshallese people. 16 pages, Neil M. Levy, 4th edition, 1997

$5.00

 

Marshallese - English DictionaryMarshallese – English Dictionnary

Abo, Bender, Capelle, deBrum

$38.00

 

Book - Nuclear Past Unclear Future - Giff JohnsonBook - Nuclear Past Unclear Future - Giff Johnson - back cover
Nuclear Past, Unclear Future

Giff Johnson
Relate part the the Nuclear legacy history of the Marshall Islands. Micronitor Press, 2009. 48 pages.

$10

 

Marshall Islands guidebook

contains a black and white photographs, short articles about the islands,
a fold-out map, telephone directory and a local business advertisements.
100 pages with illustrations & pictures, Micronitor Press, 1997.

Out-of-print, please inquire

Jaki-ed Auction in Majuro

Jaki-ed are very finely woven pandanus mats with intricate designs. The skill of weaving these mats has been revived over the past few years through the efforts of the Jaki-ed program sponsored by the University of South Pacific campus in Majuro, Marshall Islands. Every year the University of the South Pacific holds a jaki-ed auction to raise money for the weavers. The jaki-ed on the left (light tan and off-white in color) won first in the show in 2014, and is possibly the finest and smallest weaving seen in the Marshall Islands in the past 80 years or so. Both mats are now on display in the museum and the public library.