Happy Lunar New Year, APALA!
Many in our communities celebrate Lunar New Year, sharing food and community with friends and family. Although not a part of my family traditions, I have always enjoyed the beauty and ceremony. At my branch library, we hosted local lion dancers and passed out red envelopes filled with pairs of stickers to the many children in our community.
We are more than halfway through my presidency, and the last couple of months have been incredibly eventful. I am not exaggerating when I write that I have learned more in these last seven months about leadership, advocacy, and community than I have at any other juncture in my life so far. We hosted a webinar, US Empire in West Asia: A Community Teach-In with Shengxiao “Sole” Yu. We published a statement in support of current ALA president Emily Drabinski, in which we made a factual error that we quickly remedied. Thank you to the Florida Library Association for their grace and patience as we fixed our mistake. We also endorsed Dr. Ray Pun for the 2025-2026 ALA presidency.
Last month, I attended LibLearnX in Baltimore with many of you. I had the honor and privilege of reading at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunrise Celebration, and announcing the Asian Pacific American Awards for Literature at the Youth Media Awards. Thank you to everyone I connected with at the conference.
Our website states that APALA is “dedicated to enhancing leadership opportunities through informed dialogue that addresses the needs of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander library workers and those who serve these communities.” Many of you have reached out with feedback and suggestions on how to meet our goals, and I admire and appreciate the candidness. I want to acknowledge that we continue to fall short of this charge, and I apologize to our Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander members yet again for our missteps.
We are working on concrete actions we will take to improve the representation of these communities within APALA. Please be on the lookout for more programs and initiatives that center Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
Our APALA community contains multitudes, and it is my fervent hope that we all feel seen and heard. While we are one organization, we must also recognize and honor what makes all of our individual communities unique and special.
Thank you for allowing me to lead the APALA community through a time of tumultuous change and struggle as our institutions and colleagues battle unprecedented censorship and infringement of personal liberties. We will continue to support librarians, library staff, and their communities who are on the frontlines of these conflicts.
I want you to know I see you and I hear you. We are always stronger together.
Jaena Rae Cabrera (she/her/siya)
APALA President 2023-2024