Ronald Takaki recognized for contribution to multicultural society

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Janet Clarke

Ronald Takaki, author of many books on Asian American and American ethnic history, including Strangers From a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans,was a recipient of the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color Author Award. The JCLC, which was held recently in Kansas City, MO, is a joint conference of ALA’s five ethnic caucuses: Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), American Indian Library Association (AILA), Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), and National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking (REFORMA). This award honors authors or illustrators “whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to the understanding of diversity and a multicultural society.” Takaki was chosen by APALA as an author who advanced Asian American Studies and contributed an awareness of Asian American history to the larger cultural discourse in North America. His Strangers From a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans is a standard textbook in many ethnic studies or American studies classrooms across the US. His A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America was on the list of banned books in Arizona’s high schools. He was a professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley. See full list of JCLC awards here.