# Books and Programs to Celebrate AAPI Heritage in May
Every May is dedicated to recognizing the contributions and achievements of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. Over 20 million Asian and Pacific Islander Americans reside in the country, making this group the fastest-growing demographic.
Jacksonville Public Library has an AMAZING collection of books featuring stories and information written by and about people from varied backgrounds, races, ethnicities, life experiences, and viewpoints. Throughout the month, the Library will highlight books in our collection by and about Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians including here on our blog, through book displays in your local library, and via reading challenges for all ages on Beanstack.
Screening Room: Mele Murals by Tadashi Nakamura
Mele Murals is an award-winning documentary on the transformative power of modern graffiti art. Set against the resurgence of Hawaiian language and culture over the past two decades, the film shows how public art powerfully fuses with Native Hawaiian traditions to impact the youth, the town of Waimea, and most of all the artists.
Watch and discuss the film by Tadashi Nakamura from 4-5:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, at the Main Library. The screening will be followed by a conversation led with Kady Yellow.
# Book Recommendations
We love to share selections that demonstrate the range of our collection all year and we encourage you to explore these books with us this month!
Attention River City Readers:
Are you participating in Mayor Deegan's River City Readers challenge? Through the Beanstack app, children and their caregivers will be able to log their reading minutes with an individual goal of reading at least 20 minutes per day, and a citywide goal of reading 300,000 minutes over the next 365 days. At the end of the year, the city’s top young readers will be given prizes!
Join the Challenge
- Go to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Download and open the Beanstack Tracker app.
- You can also register and log your reading minutes on the Beanstack website at https://jaxpl.beanstack.com.
- Using the Find a Site search bar, type Jax Library or River City Readers
