BOSTON, MA – April 30, 2025 - To honor Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the Boston Public Library (BPL) is releasing its Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month booklist, a booklist of recent titles commemorating the diversity of the Asian American and Pacific Islander experience and highlighting these cultures' representation in print. Celebrated annually in May, AAPI Heritage Month honors and explores the influence and legacy of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The BPL will also observe AAPI Heritage Month by hosting special events for all ages across branches.
The Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month booklist, featuring selected books written either by Asian American and Pacific Islander authors or about Asian American and Pacific Islander history and culture, is compiled by staff librarians from the Chinatown Branch and Central Library. The 77 titles comprising the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month booklist highlight selections for adults, teenagers, and children by authors such as Connie Chung, Monika Kim, Lisa Ko, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Amy Tan. Genres from this collection include fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, expressions, and poetry.
Each book on the list contains a synopsis and is accompanied by an image of the book cover as well as classification information. In addition to print books, select titles are available as eBooks or audiobooks.
Along with the booklist, the BPL will celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with author talks and lectures, performing arts events, film screenings, book group discussions, and more. The full list of programs can be found at bpl.org/events. Highlights include:
- Onigiri Workshop with Japan Society Boston | May 2, Codman Square | Learn how to make onigiri, which are rice balls with customizable fillings, a staple in Japanese daily life. All ingredients provided.
- Documentary Club - Ulam: Main Dish | May 6, Mattapan | A documentary film screening and discussion of Ulam: Main Dish, which explores the Filipino food movement in the United States. The film confronts issues inherent in representing both Filipino and American identity, and challenges from both the Filipino community and the world at large.
- Gund Kwok Women's Lion & Dragon Dance | May 10 and May 17, Brighton and West End | Gund Kwok, the first Asian Women's Lion & Dragon Dance Troupe in the United States, showcases a special performance of lion and dragon dances.
- Nonfiction Night: Infamy | May 15, Brighton | A group book discussion on Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II by Richard Reeves, which tells the poignant stories of Japanese Americans who endured years in relocation camps during the Second World War.
- Friday Films: Minari | May 23, Parker Hill | Join us for a screening of Minari, in which a Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
- Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics with Li Liu | May 24, Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester | The Fields Corner Branch and the Dorchester Family Engagement Network host this solo Chinese acrobatic performance as Li Liu performs hand balancing, plate spinning, ribbon dancing, diabolos, and foot juggling. Li will also explain the rituals of Chinese New Year, teach the audience some basic Chinese phrases, and encourage them to think about what it might have been like to grow up in a different time and place.
- Virtual Author Talk: Michael Luo - Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America | May 29, East Boston | An exclusive watch party of the American Inspiration Author Series Event as Michael Luo discusses with Jill Lepore his 2025 nonfiction book, Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America, which details the challenges Chinese people faced from their early gold-rush years to modern times in the United States.
Physical copies of the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month booklist will be available at all BPL locations starting May 1, 2025; it can also be accessed digitally. In addition, the booklist and information about AAPI Heritage Month programs will also appear on the BPL website at bpl.org and on the BPL social media accounts (X, Facebook, Instagram).
Patrons can view many years' worth of prior affinity booklists, such as those from Black History Month, Disability Pride Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Native American Heritage Month in an online archive.
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Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library is a pioneer of public library service in America. It was the first large, free municipal library in the United States; the first public library to lend books; the first to have a branch library; and the first to have a children’s room.
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