Feleti Barstow Public Library
🏢 American Samoa Territorial Library · Utulei, American Samoa
Feleti Barstow Public Library
American Samoa's sole public library, open since Flag Day 2000 in Utulei, safeguards nearly 800,000 photographs of island life in the Keith Dahl Polynesian Photo Archive — a living record of Samoan community history found nowhere else on earth.
🕑 Library Hours
| Monday | 9am–4pm |
| Tuesday | 9am–4pm |
| Wednesday | 9am–4pm |
| Thursday | 9am–4pm |
| Friday | 9am–4pm |
| Saturday | 9am–2pm |
| Sunday | Closed |
Hours may vary on holidays; check the library site before visiting.
📍 Location, Contact & Directions
Address: Route 118, Utulei Village, Utulei, AS 96799
Phone: (684) 633-5816
Website: feletibarstow.org
Plus Code: 52QFP898+MC (Utulei, AS)
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👋 Use the Library Online
📖 About Feleti Barstow Public Library
Feleti Barstow Public Library is American Samoa's only public library and the territory's designated State Library Administrative Agency, serving all of the South Pacific island territory from its home in the village of Utulei since April 17, 2000. The library takes its name from Frederic "Feleti" Duclos Barstow, the first American philanthropist to visit the Samoan Islands, whose parents established the Frederic Duclos Barstow Foundation to fund Samoan education — donating the original $60,000 book stock when the library first opened in Fagatogo in 1973. After Hurricane Val severely damaged that original facility in 1991, a new building was constructed with Community Development Block Grant funds and inaugurated on Flag Day during the territory's centennial celebrations. The library anchors the American Samoa Library Consortium alongside the ASCC Learning Resource Center and Kanana Fou Theological College, holding over 27,000 items and more than 13,000 registered cardholders. Its crown jewel is the Keith Dahl Polynesian Photo Archive — roughly 800,000 photographs of Samoan community life from 1979 to 2012, now digitized and publicly accessible online.
⭐ What makes this library special
- Opened April 17, 2000, on American Samoa's Centennial Flag Day — the territory's sole public library and State Library Administrative Agency
- Keith Dahl Polynesian Photo Archive: ~800,000 photographs of Samoan community life (1979–2012), digitized and accessible via feletibarstowppa.org on Mukurtu CMS
- Apollo Space Program permanent exhibit honoring American Samoa's role in the Pacific recovery of Apollo astronauts
- Bookmobile launched April 9, 2025, bringing books and literacy programs to villages across Tutuila
- SimplyE platform provides 6,000+ free unlimited-access eBooks curated for the American Samoan community, hosted by LYRASIS
📱 Digital Resources — Free with Your Library Card
American Samoa library cardholders can read, research, and explore free through these digital resources:
📚 Services
- Free library card registration for American Samoa residents
- Book, magazine, and media lending
- Pacific Collection: books, articles, and reports on Pacific and Samoan history
- Reference and research services
- Interlibrary loan via the American Samoa Library Consortium
- Bookmobile outreach to villages across Tutuila (launched April 2025)
- School class visits for research projects
- Public computers and internet access
🎸 Programs
- Aoelua Family Reading Program (summer reading for children ages 5–11)
- Samoan Language Technology Camp (eBook creation in Samoan language, in partnership with Le Fetuao Samoan Language Learning Center)
- Apollo 11 / Space Program anniversary exhibitions
- Collaborative summer programming with ABLE (Agency for Better Living Endeavors)
📍 About the Library Network in American Samoa
Distances are approximate straight-line miles from this library.
All libraries in Utulei · Browse all American Samoa libraries →
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Feleti Barstow, and why is the library named after him?
Frederic "Feleti" Duclos Barstow was the first American philanthropist to visit the Samoan Islands. After his death, his parents established the Frederic Duclos Barstow Foundation for American Samoans, which donated $60,000 to stock the original territorial library at the Fagatogo dockside in 1973. The current library, which opened on April 17, 2000, carries his Samoan name "Feleti" in lasting tribute.
What happened to the original library, and how was the current building funded?
The first territorial public library opened in April 1973 at the Fagatogo dockside. Hurricane Val struck American Samoa in 1991 and severely damaged the facility. A replacement building was funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant program, and formally opened on Flag Day — April 17, 2000 — during the centennial celebration of the American flag flying over the territory.
What is the Polynesian Photo Archive and how can I access it?
The Keith Dahl Polynesian Photo Archive is a collection of roughly 800,000 photographs donated to the library in 2012 following the death of Keith Dahl, a photographer and Baháʼí missionary who documented Samoan community life — weddings, school events, Flag Days, and everyday moments — from 1979 to 2012. Library staff digitized the entire film collection and launched the archive publicly in August 2020 via Mukurtu CMS. It is freely accessible online at feletibarstowppa.org.
Is Feleti Barstow Public Library the only public library in American Samoa?
Yes — it is the territory's sole public library and serves as the State Library Administrative Agency for all of American Samoa. The library's consortium catalog also lists a FBPL branch location in Ofu, one of the remote Manuʻa Islands, and the 2025 Bookmobile was launched specifically to extend service to villages across Tutuila that are not close to the Utulei main branch.
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