Just when Kahuku Public & School Library thought it had reached a three-year goal of providing a bookmobile to augment its services, officials learned they have more hurdles to overcome.

About three years ago, when Fran Corcoran became the branch manager for Kahuku library, the state had decided to stop sending the Kane'ohe bookmobile to the North Shore because of its high maintenance cost, she said.

At the same time, Turtle Bay Resorts had asked her what she wanted, and a partnership was formed. The resort would raise money at an annual seafood festival and donate the proceeds to the library for a bookmobile.

This year, another company, Present Hawai'i, learned about the project and donated a two-year-old touring van, seemingly ending the drive to obtain a vehicle.

Then officials learned that the bookmobile would need to meet federal requirements of accessibility for the disabled.

"The big stumbling block is ... we have to make it compliant," Corcoran said.

That means installing a lift in the van, Corcoran said. Buses can be ordered from the Mainland with lifts, but apparently no company in Hawai'i can do the modifications, she said.

"We haven't found anybody on the island that can do that," Corcoran said, adding that people are still looking.

Meanwhile, the van sits idle.

For three years in a row, Turtle Bay Resorts has sponsored a seafood festival and donated the proceeds to the library, said Keoki Wallace, public relations manager for the hotel.

Turtle Bay Resorts will present a $15,000 check to Kahuku Public & School Library next month to go toward the bookmobile.

That will bring the three-year total to $47,000, but that isn't enough to purchase a new van with a lift, Wallace said. Such vans cost more than $100,000, he said.

Wallace said an educational alliance has been trying to provide the library with a bookmobile, and the hotel took up the cause as a pet project.

The van would supplement elementary school libraries on the North Shore as well as serve adults who can't get to Kahuku, he said.

The library serves communities from Ka'a'awa to Sunset Beach.

"We know the state has limited dollars," Wallace said. "We know they have to put those dollars to major populations, but what we're trying to do is fill in the gap and put those dollars to work where the state can't."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.