Join the Charleston County Public Library in celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. It’s a time to highlight the lives and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The monthlong celebration began in the United States in 1992.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month began as a weeklong celebration in 1979. This joint resolution was passed by the House and then the Senate and was signed by President Jimmy Carter on October 5, 1978 before becoming a monthlong celebration. May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, according to the Library of Congress. The website says, the majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.
CCPL invites you to visit library branches to see book displays, attend programs and more.
Program Highlights
Visit the Baxter-Patrick James Island Library for an Exploring Your Roots program on May 2 at 2 p.m. Come learn tips for doing genealogical research on your Jewish, Hatian, or Asian Pacific ancestors.
The Otranto Road Library Children's Department is celebrating with a showing of the movie Moana on May 8 at 3 p.m. along with a craft.
The Dorchester Road Library has an adult reading display with a list of book recommendations in honor of the month.
Visit /calendar for more program information.
Charleston Time Machine Podcast
CCPL's Charleston Time Machine Podcast will have an episode titled, "William Ah Sang and the Chinese Question of 1869." It explores, the wake of the American Civil War when planters across the South considered the pros and cons of recruiting Chinese laborers to sustain the region’s agriculture traditions. Learn about William Ah Sang, a connoisseur of Asian tea who became Charleston’s first resident of Chinese ancestry, opening the door for generations of urban immigrants. The episode will be released on Friday, May 19. CCPL's Historan Dr. Nic Butler is the producer of the podcast. Learn More.
Learn a new langugae with Mango
Your CCPL library card gives you access to Mango Lanuages where you can choose from more than 70 languages to learn. This resouce adapts to your unique learning style, so you pick up on new vocabulary, intuit unfamiliar grammatical structure, and train your pronunciation, all while boosting your cultural IQ, according to Mango. Get started learning new languages here.
Library Staff Book Recommendations
Our CCPL Library staff have selected books for children, teens and adults in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Check out this list below that includes books that you will find in our collection. You can click on the book title that interests you to place a hold.
Adult Books
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
Young Adult Books
Measuring Up by Lilly LaMotte
Soul Lanterns by Shaw Kuzki
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
Children's Books
The Fearless Flights of Hazel by JuliQe Leung
Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung helped unlock the secrets of the atom by Teresa Robeson
Hot Pot Night by Vincent Chen
Eyes That Speak to the Stars by Joanna Ho
Gibberish by Young Vo
Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business by Lyla Lee
Power Forward by Hena Khan