Feleti Barstow Public Library

Feleti Barstow Public Library is the main library in American Samoa, and is located in the village of Utulei in Maoputasi County. It is the central public library for the territory and is situated immediately across from the Office of Tourism, next to the Executive Office Building, and just behind Samoana High School.[1][2] Besides a permanent display depicting American Samoa’s involvement in the Apollo Space Program, the library has also worked with the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office (ASHPO) since 2000 at creating a historic Polynesian Photo Archive. The goal of the project has been to electronically catalog and archive around 6,000 still and moving images of Polynesia which were collected by the American Samoa Government.[3] The library has an extensive Pacific Collection which houses articles, books, and reports relevant to Pacific- and Samoan history. A large collection of photographs are stored in its Polynesian Photo Archive, which is a subset of their Pacific Collection.[4]

The library is named after Frederic “Feleti” Duclos Barstow, the first American philanthropist to come to the Samoan Islands. His trust fund, the Frederic Duclos Barstow Foundation, has contributed generously to the library.[5]

  1. ^ Talbot, Dorinda and Deanna Swaney (1998). Samoa. Lonely Planet. Page 158. ISBN 9780864425553.
  2. ^ Stanley, David (1993). South Pacific Handbook. David Stanley. Page 367. ISBN 9780918373991.
  3. ^ "American Samoa Historic Preservation Plan" (PDF). American Samoa Historic Preservation Office. 2002. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2019.
  4. ^ "American Samoa Historic Preservation Office". American Samoa Historic Preservation Office. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019.
  5. ^ Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 14. ISBN 9829036022.