Putting Asian Titles on Library Shelves

When the Orange County Library started a Spanish-language collection about 15 years ago, librarian Sue Chung thought, “Why not have one for Asians too?”

Chung pursued the idea, and today the county’s Asian collection numbers more than 28,000 volumes, plus music cassettes and videotapes, in Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

“For the opening-day collection, we had a limited budget,” Chung said. “My first priority were the most demanded titles, the best sellers from Korea, China, Japan and Vietnam. Then I concentrated on the classics.

“I also wanted to provide books useful to recent immigrants--books on how to open a small business, how to speak or learn English, how to become a U.S. citizen.”

Chung, who works at the Westminster Library, sought public opinion on which books to acquire by spreading news of the collection’s development through foreign-language newspapers and magazines.

“People called and telephoned,” Chung said. “They came into the library to talk with me. We still receive requests year-round.”

Eventually, the library began offering translations of American best sellers.

“I also included videos and audiocassettes because it is the current technology and very popular. Christian gospel music, sung in Korean, was very much requested,” Chung said.

The public’s response to the collection has been overwhelming, she said.

“They are thrilled to have the books,” Chung said. “They are fascinated by the service we are providing.

“In most Asian countries, they don’t have the same concept of the public library that we have. Libraries in Korea, for example, are not really community-oriented but more of an institution, connected with scholarship.

“I always tell people that we are available and here to help them. They really appreciate that.”

Service is the biggest part of her job, she said.

When the library doors open in the morning, Chung, 52, is usually at the reference desk to answer questions, help find books or even baby-sit as parents roam the stacks.

Away from work, she also spends time helping people. Almost every evening, Chung, a certified counselor, works with troubled families and individuals.

Her services are on call at local hospitals and churches, including St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton and Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton.

“Counseling is satisfying and the most worthwhile thing I can do,” Chung said. “Learning, saving and collecting things--they will all disappear when you die. But what you give others lives on even after you die.”