The Missing Stories at Livingston Public Library

Event Date + Location

Date: Saturday, May 12

Time: 3 – 4:30 PM

Location: Livingston Public Library, 10 Robert Harp Drive, Livingston, NJ 07039

Admission: Free and open to all

Website: https://www.livingstonlibrary.org/

In 1883, Anandibai Joshee, a young woman from a small city in western India arrived in Roselle, NJ. She had traveled thousands of miles, overcoming incredible physical and emotional hardships. She arrived with a purpose and eventually became the first South Asian woman in the world with a degree in western medicine.

The Missing Stories will be presented at the Livingston Public Library by Samip Mallick, Co-Founder & Executive Director of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA). Mallick says, "South Asian American stories are an important part of the American story, yet these stories are not taught in classrooms, found in textbooks, or reflected in popular media. During a time when immigrant lives are being threatened and devalued, SAADA’s work serves as a powerful response to the question of who belongs and casts a vision for a more inclusive future."

South Asians have been a presence in the US for more than 130 years, but their stories are mostly unknown. In this session, participants will engage in an interactive discussion about underepresented populations, specifically examining South Asians, and how sharing community stories can help create a more inclusive future.

Amy Babcock-Landry, Director of the Livingston Public Library, is excited to welcome SAADA. “Sharing stories is the heart of what we do at the Library. This program gives us the opportunity to dig deeper into that tradition. We will examine whose stories get told, whose stories are silenced, and most importantly to begin to question why this happens and think about what we can do to effect change.”

Funding for the Missing Stories program at Livingston Public Library is provided by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.

About the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

The South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) is not-for-profit organization that creates a more inclusive society by giving voice to South Asian Americans through documenting, preserving, and sharing stories that represent their unique and diverse experiences. SAADA envisions American and world histories that fully acknowledge the importance of immigrants and ethnic communities in the past, strengthen such communities in the present, and inspire discussion about their role in the future. https://www.saada.org/.

About Livingston Listens @ the Livingston Public Library

Livingston Listens is a series of programs on Inclusion, Representation and Social Justice at the Livingston Public Library. In an increasingly disruptive political and cultural environment, Livingston is a community that is becoming increasingly diverse. This represents a challenge as new communities grow alongside established ones and also an opportunity for our community, as a whole, to come together and talk about how issues that are impacting our country on a large scale are impacting our community and our lives as individual citizens. https://www.livingstonlibrary.org/