Happy Wednesday! This month, let’s celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage together and recognize how APALA has enhanced professional opportunities for its members.
Christina Nhek
General Librarian for Teen Services at Long Beach Public Library & APALA Member since 2013
I was the 2013 APALA scholarship award recipient. At the time, I was a grad student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. I remember ALA’s annual conference was in Chicago that year and I was asked to attend the APALA literature award banquet to receive my award afterwards. It was a very special time and serendipitous moment because at that very award ceremony, Anne Sibley O’Brien received the APALA picture book award for her book “A Path of Stars”. The book was about a young Cambodian girl hearing stories from her grandmother about her life growing up in Cambodia. When the award was presented, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room and I remember feeling so moved and with me being Cambodian American, I felt very fortunate to be able to experience that moment. I had to talk to the author and was lucky in getting a signed copy. It’s uncanny because at the time, I actually purchased a second copy for a library branch that has a Khmer bilingual collection.
I currently am a librarian now serving at the very same branch! Having been chosen as a recipient, it enabled me to continue my studies. I wanted to pay it forward also help others and served on the APALA travel grant and scholarship award committee for two years afterwards. I continued to serve on other committees and I always felt that APALA is a great networking group where I get to meet different people and I made many friends over the years when I was a student to now as a librarian. I always look forward to catching up with everyone at conferences!
In 2020, APALA will be celebrating its 40th anniversary! Please consider supporting events that mark this important milestone by giving a donation online! We welcome any amount that you wish to give and your contribution will support APALA and its members. For federal tax purposes, contributions to APALA are charitable gifts to the extent permitted by law. Thank you for your support!