I appreciate my membership in APALA and am delighted to share a life-changing journey I’ve experienced over the past 20 years: traveling to (and living in) 20+ Asian countries and visiting/evaluating over 1,000 Asian libraries. Why? A career project: to understand Asian libraries and Asian library users in order to better serve them here in the US—as visitors, international students, or new immigrants.
I am the International Outreach Librarian at California State University Fullerton, working with international students—primarily from Asia—over the past two decades. Early on I began studying what kind of library conditions—and what kind of experience/training—Asian students had in their home countries. I wanted to better know their home library environments so I could better serve them here in the US.
I began making annual trips to Asia, and in 2005-6 even lived in Asia on an in-residence research grant, rotating from country to country, monthly, and visiting hundreds of libraries—from Indonesia in the south to Mongolia in the north. I lived in Asia again in 2016 as a Fulbright Scholar.
Learning all the different library trends, styles, classification systems, user needs, and more, has been amazing! The diversity of cultures and practices in libraries throughout Asia is incredible! Whether it is mobile libraries delivering books by elephant in Laos, academic libraries digitizing Sanskrit writings in India and Pakistan, or public libraries transforming into high-tech community centers in South Korea, I’ve been so edified by all the libraries I’ve visited and librarians/library users I’ve met.
The results of my two decades of research is now available as a book: Serving Library Users from Asia: A Comprehensive Handbook of Country-Specific Information and Outreach Resources (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). It has 24 chapters (over 750 pages) of country-specific information and resources: library conditions, lists of vendors, cultural characteristics, and more—helpful to all librarians serving Asian library users. Whether you’re seeking new Chinese book vendors for your academic library, or serving new Filipino/a immigrants in your public library, or celebrating Vietnamese Tết in your school library, the resources I’ve gathered can help.
I’m extremely grateful to other APALA members for prior library works on Asians and libraries. For example, November 2018’s Asian American Librarians and Library Services: Activism, Collaborations, and Strategies (Rowman & Littlefield), edited by APALA members Janet Hyunju Clarke, Raymond Pun, and Monnee Tong, with chapters by many APALA members. This book is amazing! If you haven’t seen it yet, buy it and read it! A statement in my book—of other books on serving Asians in libraries not being available—was incorrect and unfortunately not corrected before printing. Janet’s, Ray’s, and Monnee’s edited collection is truly the pioneering work.
You can see photos of my Asia experiences at my homepage: https://www.library.fullerton.edu/about/profiles/jhickok.php I’m headed to Asia again next month for more library visits!
Sincerely,
John (jhickok@fullerton.edu)