Happy New Year APALA Family!
It is hard to believe that we have entered a new decade with the beginning of 2020. I am looking forward to a new year with APALA and all the opportunities that we have as an organization. We will also be celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, so be on the lookout for the celebration announcement to take place at ALA Annual in Chicago this summer.
Recently, many APALA members had the privilege of attending ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia in January. For the first time, we held a combined Executive Board and Membership meeting on Saturday, beginning with association business and committee updates. We closed the meeting with an opportunity for member questions and a chance for us to meet with one another. I was thrilled to meet all the new members in attendance and to feel their excitement at getting involved. Members of APALA also attended a community reception hosted by ALA President Wanda K. Brown and ALA President Elect Julius Jefferson, and the ALA Spectrum Scholar Reception. Building solidarity and continuing to work with the other communities of color is a core APALA value, and we supported each other at the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color location announcement reception (St. Pete’s Beach, Florida!), attended the BCALA 50th Anniversary Reception, and created community at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunrise Celebration. We also continued to build bridges with other ethnic affiliate associations, sharing a meal at the Affiliates Luncheon and brainstorming ideas together at our first Ethnic Affiliate Leadership Meeting. We connected with new members, socialized with friends, celebrated our colleagues and built community as an association.
This was also the second year that the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature were part of ALA’s Youth Media Awards (YMA). Our Literature Award committee members worked hard to select the 2020 amazing and award winning youth titles that celebrate Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage through ground-breaking literature and illustrations.
Ven Basco (Co-chair), Eugenia Beh (Chair of Picture Books), Camden Kimura (member of Children’s Literature), Hannah Lee Park (member of Children’s Literature), Amanda Chuong (member of Picture Books), Hadeal Salmah (member of Children’s Literature), and Dora Ho (co-chair)
APALA is only as strong as its members, most importantly, the dedicated volunteers who make the organization vibrant and powerful through committee service. Since July, when our new Executive Board and Committee Chairs and members began, they have been working non stop to create opportunities for member engagement and leadership development. A big thank you to all of them! I am so grateful for all their hard work supporting our programs and association activities. A few highlights from the past six months include appointing Past Presidents Paolo J. Gujilde and Eileen K. Bosch to the Steering Committee of the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color IV and having our project Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)/Celebrating 40 Years of Library Leadership and Beyond with the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association selected to be worked on by a team from the 2020 Class of Emerging Leaders.
We are always looking for members to get involved, bringing their energy and passion to the table. Vice President Candice Mack will be making committee appointments soon, so please be on the lookout for the Volunteer Form for 2020-2021. She has an amazing year planned, and I would like to encourage everyone to and support her vision and continue to grow our association.
In solidarity,
Alanna Aiko Moore
APALA President 2019-2020