Asian Pacific American Heritage Month kicks off at Nellis

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — Asian Pacific American Heritage Month celebrations have kicked off, with the Nellis Air Force Base Library leading the way for a month-long schedule of activities at the installation.

Every Wednesday at 10 a.m children gather in the Nellis Air Force Base Library to participate in Story Time, a reading and activity program for children and parents.

On May 2, Story Time changed its focus to books and activities celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

“We’re going to be reading Asian Pacific American cultural books,” said Stephanie Levin, Library technician.

Story Time opens every week with a song intended to grasp the children’s attention before reading. Focusing on Asian Pacific American Heritage Month the songs, books and activities will all have a similar Asian Pacific American Culture Theme.

“The opening song gets kids settled in; we sing the same song every week,” Levin said. “They know the stories are about to start.”

Levin punctuates Story Time with interactive, age-appropriate songs and crafts.

“Stephanie is great with the kids,” said Heather Nault, parent of a child attending Story Time. “We live off base and it’s something we can do that lets us feel more involved with our Air Force community; it’s free and fun too.”

Story Time has many celebrated events at the Library.

“It promotes the lifelong love of books,” Levin said. “It gets them into the library and introduces them to literature. It helps with their reading skills and gets them ready for school. Story time also introduces them to other kids.”

The heart of Story Time is reading, and while the songs help to break up the books, the crafts provide a tangible connection to the stories.

“It’s something they can take home to remember,” Levin said, noting that Story Time is open to anyone with base access.

Levin said she’s excited about the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month edition of Story Time, and reiterated that the Library has many programs throughout the year which all promote the love of reading.

“We have programs throughout the year and we always encourage families to come out and join us,” Levin said. “We’ve always got something going on here.”

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is a celebration of the culture, traditions and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Congress passed a joint Congressional Resolution in 1978 to commemorate Asian American Heritage Week during the first week of May.  In 1990, Congress voted to expand it from a week to a month-long celebration and in May 1992, the month of May was permanently designated as “Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.”May was chosen because two important anniversaries occur during the month: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants and the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

For more information about Library functions call (702) 682-4484.