The may book project
The Very Asian Foundation, in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, launched The May Book Project (MBP) to help schools and libraries build and maintain robust Asian American youth literature collections for all readers.
We are raising national awareness of the need to create inclusive libraries, give readers access to up-to-date Asian American youth literature, and provide funding to donate books to at-need libraries.
The project is inspired by St. Louis high school students who asked their schools for more Asian American literature during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and were ignored. The May Book Project is a vetted, high-quality, and free resource to help libraries support readers.
Are you a student and want to get involved? Learn more here!
“When there are enough books available that can act as both mirrors and windows for all our children, they will see we can celebrate both our differences and our similarities.”
— Rudine Sims Bishop
The MBP Book lIsts
The May Book Project book lists are curated and vetted by a committee of AAPI literary scholars, librarians and authors. The lists cover all reading levels - picture books, early readers, middle school, young adult and adult literature.
TOOL KIT & Resources
Other Resources
A Huge thanks
To our founding coalition partners in the project — We appreciate you immensely in supporting this important work!
Let’s work together!
We are partnering with community organizations and corporate sponsors to distribute book lists and purchase new materials for libraries. More specifically, we are committed to donating books to libraries that do not have a budget for new materials.
Donate to the MBP Fund Today!
MBP Amazon Wish List (St. Louis)
Download Sponsorship Package
For Sponsorship Inquiries