City rings in year of dragon

Thirteen years ago, the Monroe County Public Library worked with IU’s Asian Culture Center to create a Lunar New Year celebration in Bloomington.

The program Saturday focused on a holiday observed in countries such as China, Korea and Japan, and also highlighted one of many long-standing partnerships between the library and University organizations.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Mary Frasier, reference librarian and coordinator of the celebration. “The Asian Culture Center is one of our longest and enduring partnerships in terms of doing something on an annual basis. And they’re fantastic. The coordinators are easy to work with and the students are great.”

On Saturday afternoon, IU students from the Asian Culture Center and Asian American Association performed an educational skit to explain the history of the Lunar New Year and the 12 zodiac animals. 2012 — the year of the dragon — primarily symbolizes power and good fortune. The actual Lunar New Year holiday is today.
Along with the skit, IU students Echo Lu and Justin Zheng performed Asian music, including the popular Chinese pop song “It Is More Than That.”

Following the performances, children made their way to an arts and crafts room to create dragon masks with markers, crayons and streamers, while IU students and volunteers served Asian cuisine. The culture center also set up calligraphy lessons in the library atrium, as well as more food.

Frasier, who works for the children’s department, said it is important in two distinct ways for children to have a Lunar New Year celebration in their community.

“There are a lot of different cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year,” Frasier said. “It’s good for children to see an agency in town celebrating a holiday that is important for their culture and family, and people who don’t come from that background to see something different and learn.”

The program, Frasier said, has drawn a larger and larger crowd following its inception in 1993, garnering crowds of 300 people or more. Continuing to incorporate University organizations into programming events, Frasier said, will always remain a priority for the library.

“We’re really fortunate to have IU two blocks away from us,” Frasier said. “IU is really a gold mine and a wonderful resource for us.”

Making sure programs such as the Lunar New Year celebration are interesting for children, students and adults, she said, has been key to the partnership’s success.

Freshman Kelsey Lechner, who is studying Japanese, said she was glad there was an inclusive event celebrating the New Year, particularly as a place for different groups of people to come together.

“There are so many Chinese students on campus,” Lechner said. “It is good for people to mix with them a little bit more and understand their culture. I know a lot of the international students kind of group together and are shy to branch out.”