In 1992, an extension of the week to a month-long celebration was signed into law.  May was chosen since the first Japanese immigration to the U.S. occurred on May 7, 1843, and the transcontinental railroad was officially completed on May 10, 1869, built mainly by Chinese laborers.

Of course, the Asian-Pacific area includes not only Japan and China, but all of Asia, the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, producing an incredibly varied and fascinating melange of customs, art, and beliefs.

For more on current events marking this year’s Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, see the Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month website sponsored by the Library of Congress, or the Smithsonian Education Asian Pacific American Heritage Month website.

Find both fiction and non-fiction books for all ages by and about Asian-Pacific Americans in WCC’s Erwin Library book exhibit area on display all this month beside the Reference section.

If you need more poetry, sign up for a poem-a-day to be sent to your email by the Academy of American Poets.  You’ll find a new poem in your inbox each day, a contemporary, unpublished poem or a classical, historical one.  No one should live without poetry!

Please visit the book exhibit for the month of February in the Erwin Library Reference display area.  Not only do these books give you more information about the Emancipation Proclamation, which reached its 150th anniversary on January 1, 2013, and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, marking its 50th anniversary on August 28, 2013, but history and biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his poignant “I Have a Dream” speech delivered during the March, Rosa Parks, whose quiet defiance of Jim Crow laws on a Montgomery, Alabama bus began the civil rights movements of the twentieth century, and President Abraham Lincoln, whose determination to abolish slavery while reuniting the nation after civil war became the shining legacy of his life.

For all these book titles and their call numbers, as well as links to more web sites to explore, a “History of Civil Rights in the United States” is available on the Erwin Library webpage.  This rich history is intriguing and ongoing, so enjoy as you learn!

The Erwin Library joins in this illumination by offering a book exhibit in the Reference area with fiction and non-fiction titles about all aspects of each holiday, the cultural or religious significance, history, and traditional observances, as well as wonderful recipes and bright stories for all ages.

The Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza Bibliography on the library webpage gives complete information for finding many more books in the Erwin Library about these celebrations, along with a variety of fun as well as informative websites.

Find a Native American History and Heritage Bibliography on the Erwin Library homepage, listing even more books with their call numbers that you can find here in your library.

To learn more about Native American Heritage, the month-long celebrations, as well as exhibits on the web from the Library of Congress, visit their website.  More information about Native American History in North Carolina can be found through the North Carolina Museum of History website, and the NCPedia website.

Now in the Erwin Library’s newspaper exhibit area are books that celebrate the theme of Teen Read Week, including books about all types of monsters and other undesirable characters.

To learn more about teen reading as well as read some classic teen and young adult books, visit the Library of Congress’ teen reading site.

The American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom has a webpage that discusses banned books and lists the hundreds of books that have been banned over the years. You can search by year or author.

For more information about North Carolina history, visit the North Carolina History Project and the NCpedia.

The library also offers a Civil War bibliography that you can view here.

To learn more about the battles of the Civil War and the Revolutionary War, visit the animated site of both the Civil War and the Revolutionary War.