On Saturday, November 12, St. Louis County Library opened the doors to its new 2,000-square-foot Asian Center housed at the Daniel Boone Library Branch, 300 Clarkson Rd., 636-227-9630, with a dedication at 2:00 p.m. The much anticipated center hold books, periodicals, videos and reference materials specifically for the Asian community. Most of the materials will be geared toward Chinese patrons, since they constitute the largest Asian group in West County. According to Ling Thumin, the Library's Asian Services Coordinator, once the center becomes established, the collection should expand to include materials geared toward other parts of Asia.

Upon opening, the center will house 5,000 - 6,000 items. To start, the largest part of the collection will be Chinese language books. The collection will also include some English language books on Asian subject matter and some bi-lingual books. In addition to the books, some Chinese periodicals and reference materials will be available, as well as a number of videos, including feature films emanating from Asia, documentaries and Western films dubbed into Chinese. About one fifth of the books at the center will be for children, Ms. Thumin said. The adult books will include fiction and non-fiction, must-read classics, biographies, self-help books and translations of English language books into Chinese.

"The area has 500 families that have adopted Asian children," Ms. Thumin said. "The children's books and bi-lingual books should be very helpful to them."

The center will have its own staff and circulation system as well. Finally, three public computer terminals with Internet access will be available.

Ms. Thumin said the center is part of an overall effort by the Library to enhance Library services for the Asian community in St. Louis County, which has also included the addition of a Chinese periodicals database (accessible through the Library's website at www.slcl.org) called Qikan and a number of bi-lingual computer classes.

With 20 branches, St. Louis County Library serves more than 870,000 people within a 460-square-mile area with over 2 million cataloged items. It is one of the largest circulating public libraries in the country. The mission of St. Louis County Library is to support and enhance the community by providing free and equal access to ideas, information and opportunities for lifelong learning.

亞洲圖書中心之圖書	亞洲圖書中心正式成立	Daniel Boone 圖書館館長 Dan Wilson

亞洲圖書中心之圖書	時報謝秀雲女士(右一)密大Joel Glassman博士夫婦 出席開幕式與及戴慶齡董事(右二)合影
Dan Wilson館長介紹江定廉女士	戴慶齡董事與郡長夫人(左一)合影。
	左起謝秀雲女士，劉國憲教授 及吳語玫女士到場致賀

Charlie Dooley郡長與韓裔社區代表合影，右一、右三為京園餐廳劉人豪老闆夫婦，右四為韓裔協會會長。

戴慶齡董事在開幕式中致詞