Culture Connection: API Culture Event

Come and network with your Asian & Pacific Islander (API) colleagues with our food booth and lightning talks! This is a kick-off event for Culture Connection, a new statewide EDI-NJ project!

Culture Connection aims to connect library staff from diverse backgrounds through cultural experiences, education, and events. Our goal is to bring different cultures together, fostering understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity in New Jersey's library workplaces, in alignment with the EDI Framework supported by LLNJ, NJLA, and NJSL.

11:00am-12:30pm
Sign-in, Networking, Fun Activities, Lightning Quizzes, & Food Booth!

12:30pm-1:00pm
Welcome & Introduction 
Ralph Bingham, Executive Director, LibraryLinkNJ
Jen Nelson, New Jersey State Librarian
Brett Bonfield, Executive Director, NJLA
Jon Guido, President, NJALA
Gabrielle Casieri, Vice President, NJASL
Marilyn Ochoa, Vice-Chair/Chair Elect of VALE
Selwa Shamy, Chair, EDI-NJ
&
Maria Eng, President, AAPI of East Brunswick
Dr. Ying Lu, Founding Board Member, Make Us Visible NJ & Founder of The E Pluribus Unum Project Inc.

1:00pm-1:30pm
Lightning Talks 
We Are Culturally Different Inside: More Than Meets the Eye!
Mimi Hui, Hasbrouck Heights Public Library
Anu Vedantham, Princeton University Library
Shinae Hyun, Teaneck Public Library & Nicole Marconi, Hoboken Public Library
Setsuko Noguchi, Princeton Public Library

1:30pm-3:00pm
Main Presentation
Addressing Racial Microaggressions towards Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders
in the Library Workplace: An Interactive Discussion
presented by Raymond Pun & Tarida Anantachai
(This presentation will be a virtual program conducted via Zoom)

This presentation highlights the ongoing microaggressions experienced by Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders (AAAPI), and various ways to counter and address these issues in the library workplace. In addition to being long viewed as perpetual foreigners and “model minorities,” AAAPIs have had to navigate the increasing anti-Asian racism and violence that have risen since the COVID-19 pandemic. The interactive session will explore micro and macro aggressions faced by these communities, as well as tools and resources to counteract these aggressions and biases—whether those occurring internally in the workplace or those from library users. It will also address ways in which AAAPI communities themselves can better support each other in order to counter the racial monolith, and the stereotypes and erasures such narratives can create. Attendees will also be invited to share their own reflections and perspectives throughout the discussion. All attendees are welcome to attend.

About the Main Program Presenters:
Raymond Pun (he/him) is the academic and research librarian at the Alder Graduate School of Education, a teacher residency program in California, where he supports library services by engaging with residents and teacher educators. Ray holds a Doctorate in Education from Fresno State, a Master of Library Science from the City University of New York - Queens College, a Master of Arts in East Asian Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from St. John's University. Pun is Past President of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) and the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA)	Tarida Anantachai (she/her) is the Director, Inclusion & Talent Management at the NC State University Libraries. Her research and professional interests include topics around equity, diversity, and inclusion; career development and mentoring; leadership; and outreach programming. Tarida was an ARL Leadership and Career Development Program Fellow, a participant in the MN Institute for Early Career Librarians, and an ALA Emerging Leader.

3:00pm-3:15pm
Raffle Drawing & Closing

This is event is brought to you by EDI-NJ
&
Co-sponsored by Hasbrouck Heights Public Library, Hoboken Public Library, MentorNJ, NJLA (D&O Section & LWOC Section), LibraryLinkNJ