Voices of Asian Americans in History and Today

Join ALA President, Patricia “Patty” Wong as she welcomes Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Catherine Ceniza Choy and journalist and author William Gee Wong in an engaging discussion that will highlight the current state of affairs for Asian Americans; their place in history; influence; and how librarians and libraries can be more responsive and engaged with the community.

Catherine Ceniza Choy

Catherine Ceniza Choy is professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Before that, she was an assistant professor of American studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is the author of the books “Empire of Care” and “Global Families,” and the co-editor of the anthology “Gendering the Trans-Pacific World.” An engaged public scholar, she has been interviewed in many media outlets, including ABC 2020, The Atlantic, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, the New York Times, ProPublica, the San Francisco Chronicle, Time, and Vox.

William Gee Wong

William Gee Wong, a native of Oakland, California’s Chinatown, is a retired journalist and author of “Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America” and “Images of America: Oakland’s Chinatown.” He’s worked for the Wall Street Journal and the Oakland Tribune and has also written for the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, sfgate.com, East West Chinese American Journal, and Asian Week. Wong has appeared as a regional commentator for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines and is working on a father-son memoir.

Patricia "Patty" Wong – ALA President

Patricia (Patty) Wong is the first Asian American to serve as president of the American Library Association. Her term began July 2021 and closes at the adjournment of the 2022 Annual Conference. Wong has been an active ALA member for 37 years. She is a member of the Freedom to Read Foundation and, as an ALA Executive Board member, has worked with the association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, Committee on Legislation, and the Conference Committee.

She is the City Librarian for the Santa Clara City Library. She has worked as a school librarian, children’s librarian, cataloger, and special librarian, as well as leadership roles in public libraries. Her work in managing change, equity and diversity, youth development, developing joint ventures and collaborations between public libraries and community agencies, and fundraising has been published in a number of journals, conference proceedings and edited collections. Wong also is the recipient of several awards, including the 2012 ALA Equality Award, CALA Distinguished Service Award (2014), and Member of the Year, California Library Association (2012).

She is also adjunct faculty for the iSchool at San Jose State University where she has taught hundreds of students to serve young people and write grants to benefit local and regional communities — and make the world a better place.