Written by Mackenzie Manley, Content Specialist, Downtown Main Library
May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the broad-ranging cultures across the Asian continent, the Pacific islands of Melanesia, and Polynesia.
AAPI Heritage Month is celebrated in May to commemorate both the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States of America in 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, much of which was laid by Chinese immigrants.
Join the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library in celebrating AAPI heritage with notable people, featured events, and booklists.
Featured People
Read about AAPI Heritage Month’s featured people, who are featured in displays throughout CHPL’s 41 locations.
Celeste Ng grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a town just outside of Cleveland. An award-winning author, she is best known for her novel Little Fires Everywhere, which was adapted into a Hulu miniseries. Her other books include Everything I Never Told You and Our Missing Hearts. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020.
One of the best-known cellists of his generation, Yo-Yo Ma was born to Chinese parents in Paris, France. The child of two musicians, Yo-Yo Ma was considered a child prodigy, having performed for presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower before the age of 10. His career has seen him play a range of musical styles, from bluegrass to traditional Chinese songs to rock. President Barack Obama awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
A NASA astronaut and mechanical engineer, Kalpana Chawla made history as the first woman of Indian descent to go into space. During her second mission to space in 2003, Kalpana died alongside her six crewmates when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry. She was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
Featured Events
Hear an Author Talk with Jay B. Kalagayan on Tuesday, May 5 at 6 p.m. at the Downtown Main Library. Based in Cincinnati, Kalagayan is the owner of Creative Mussel Productions, an indie graphic novel publisher dedicated to supporting diverse artists. Learn about the origins of his company and MeSsed Comics and Filipino Assassin. The latter chronicles the life of Vincent Manago Hambright, a local boxer and World War II veteran. His latest graphic novel, St. Malo, explores an 18th-century Filipino settlement in Louisiana.
On June 20 at 11 a.m., the Downtown Main Library will host Voices Across Generations: Reimagining Cincinnati’s Asian and Pacific Islander American Histories Through Memory and Place. Public historian Jim Tecco will discuss the archival gaps that have left the histories of early Asian and Pacific Islander Cincinnatians flattened, fragmented, or altogether missing.
Recommended Reading
In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, library staff curated lists for all ages. Check out these books this May, and all year long.
The breadth of brilliant work from Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is far too vast to fully cover, but here's a sampling of works spanning genres and time that will generate some lively conversations with your book club.
A vibrant collection of teen reads that celebrate AAPI voices through powerful stories of identity, culture, and belonging.
A joyful collection of picture books celebrating AAPI Heritage Month through stories of culture, family, history, and belonging.
Add a comment to: Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with the Library