News Release

The month of May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and the San Francisco Public Library celebrates the diversity of our community with a series of exhibits and programs.

In 1978, a joint congressional resolution established Asian Pacific American Heritage Week to coincide with two key anniversaries: the arrival in the United States of the first Japanese immigrants (May 7, 1843) and the completion of the transcontinental railroad (May 10, 1869). In 1992, Congress expanded the week to a month-long observance.

Asian and Pacific peoples have played a vital role in the development of the United States from the early 1800s to the 21st century. According to the U.S. Census Bureau as of July 2005, an estimated 14.4 million U.S. residents (4.4 of the total population) said they are Asian or Asian in combination with one or more other races. With 4.2 million people, California has the largest Asian-American population of any state in the union; the largest Chinatown in the U.S. is in San Francisco, home to more than 14,000 people.

Pertinent events at the Library during the month of May include:

• the exhibit Documenting China: Contemporary Photography and Social Change (April 28 ­ June 24 at the Main Library, Jewett Gallery and Chinese Center) ;
  
• a reading of folktales from Asia (3 p.m. on May 5 at the Potrero Branch Library);
  
• Tai Chi instruction for beginners (2:30 p.m. on May 5 at Chinatown Branch Library, Community Room);
  
• a singing performance by Kundirana, teenage Filipino goodwill ambassadors (10 a.m. on May 10 at the Main Library, Koret Auditorium);
  
• Chinese folk dance by the Chung Ngai Dance Troupe (2:30 p.m. on May 12 at the Chinatown Branch Library, Community Room);
  
• a reading by William Poy Lee, author of the memoir The Eighth Promise: An American Son’s Tribute to His Toisanese Mother (2:30 p.m. May 19 at the Chinatown Branch Library, Community Room);
  
• a celebration of GLBT authors and artists of Asian Pacific heritage (7 p.m. on May 22 at the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch;
  
• and a teen essay contest celebrating Asian Pacific Heritage (deadline for 1000-word submissions is 4 p.m. on May 26, call (415) 355-2888 for information).
  

All programs and events at the Library are free and open to the public.
For more information and images, please call (415) 557-4277 or visit www.sfpl.org.