Skip to Main Content

Asian / Pacific American Heritage Month: Home

Asian Pacific America history month banner

Natural Beauty
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American History, Art, and Culture in 101 Objects
The Sense of Wonder
Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency
The Best We Could Do (Graphic Novel)
While Time Remains
The Hungry Season
The Red Lie
Everything We Never Had
Feeding Ghosts
Rental House
The Fetishist
Love Can't Feed You
Secret Harvests
Light from Uncommon Stars
The All-American
A Living Remedy
Not Your China Doll
Unbound Spirit
Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant
The Golden Screen
Aloha Rodeo book cover
Mott Street
The Making of Asian America : A History
Story-Wallah
Last of Her Name
Music of the Ghosts
The Yellow Áo Dài
Interior Chinatown
Here I Am children's
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
Serve the People
Letters from The 442nd
A Career in Books
Siren Queen
Asian Americans
Suburban Sahibs
Seeking Fortune Elsewhere
recipe and food display picture book display

 

Visit us to check out our displays

 photo of Nisei Festival Week Queen contestants, Los Angeles 1966
About the Guide

Since 1990, the United States has observed Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May to "pay tribute to the contributions [that] generations of Asian/Pacific Americans have made to American history, society and culture." The purpose of this guide is to introduce visitors to library resources such as books and digital collections, as well as resources from around the Web, that highlight these many contributions.

About the Observance

The adoption of AAPIHM dates back to the late 1970s when an observance was proposed to Congress through two separate bills; one introduced by Representatives Frank Horton (NY) and Norman Y. Mineta (CA), and another by Senators Daniel K. Inouye (HI) and Spark Matsunaga (HI). Both bills were passed in October of 1978 by President Jimmy Carter. May was chosen as the month to hold the observance; it commemorates the first Japanese immigrants to the United States in May of 1843, and pays tribute to the many Chinese immigrants who were instrumental in the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in May of 1869. Twenty years after its origin, President George H. W. Bush would sign a proclamation that established the month-long observance celebrated today.

Photo: UCLA Library Special Collections, Nisei Festival Week Queen contestants, Los Angeles, 1966, cropped, CC BY 2.0


 

Libby books online

 

Read, download, or stream ebooks and electronic audiobooks

 

The Backyard Bird Chronicles
How to End a Love Story
Which Side Are You On
Land of Milk and Honey
How High We Go in the Dark

Picture Books

Popo and Meimei Can Help
Let's Celebrate Korean New Year!
A Map into the World
A Dupatta Is book
A Different Pond
Kalamata's Kitchen
The Rock in My Throat
Eyes That Speak to the Stars
Watercress
Two New Years
The Yellow Áo Dài
Luli and the Language of Tea
Ohana Means Family
Rainbow Shopping
Mei Mei Lucky Birthday Noodles
A Boy Named Isamu
The Most Beautiful Thing
Many Colors of Harpreet Singh
Here I Am
Our Favorite Day
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
Laxmi's Mooch
Take Me Out to the Yakyu
Double Happiness
P Is for Poppadoms!
Queen of Physics
I Am Golden
Happy Belly, Happy Smile
Big Red Lollipop
Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
Sakamoto's Swim Club
Write to Me
Dad Bakes
It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way
Drawn Together
When Lola Visits
Bee-Bim Bop!

Films On Demand

Asian American series

Asian Americans (Series)
Jane Chung documentary

More Than a Face in the Crowd: The Fifty-Year Career of Asian-American Actress Jane Chung
Andy Akiho

Andy Akiho, Now Hear This
No Turning Back

Becoming American: The Chinese Experience