The History and Status of Chinese Americans in Librarianship

THISARTICLE REVIEWS THE BRIEF HISTORY OF Chinese Americans in the United States and their contributions to librarianship. Despite the hardships and challenges they faced, Chinese American librarians made great contributions to the building of East Asian libraries, to the cataloging of East Asian and Chinese collections, and to the development of library automation. They have advanced information technologies, promoted multicultural and diversity library services, and participated in library management and administration. Chinese Americans are active in library and information science education, in professional associations, in international librarianship, in national library and information services policy making and programming, and national policy making. Pioneers and key figures are identified with their accomplishments. The origin, purpose, programs, and activities of the Chinese American Librarians Association are also described. INTRODUCTION The Chinese have been in the United States since the 1820s.Their history in this country is the longest among all Asian groups. With a population of 1,648,696, according to the 1990 US. census, it is also one of the largest ethnic groups in the country (Lai, 1995). During the last two centuries, Chinese Americans have played an important role in the nation’s