June is Immigrant Heritage Month, and at Queens Public Library locations across the borough, we’re holding special events celebrating our diverse cultures and encouraging you to Bring Your Story to share with others and us at the Library!

We are starting our special events early, first on Monday May 20 at 5:30pm at Langston Hughes Community Library with a celebration of Mexican culture with Mariachi Tapatío de Álvaro Paulino, one of the finest mariachi bands in New York City. The band's music includes corridos, a form of storytelling in song that is enjoyed by young and old. Then, on Tuesday, May 28 at 3pm at Woodhaven Library, Mexican-born artist Aurelia Fernandez will discuss ancient traditions surrounding the Day of the Dead altar and teach our guests how to make calaveras, clay versions of the elaborately decorated sugar skulls used in Mexico.

In June, at each of our branches, we will have a special map for our customers to trace their family’s journey to the United States. Using special string, our Map Your Story activity will show the cultural ties that connect the U.S. to the rest of the world!

What is your family’s most beloved recipe? Who was the first to make it? What are its roots? You can write down a family recipe and bring it to us at our Stories Around Food events, and one recipe representing each of our locations will be chosen for a Queens Public Library cookbook!

Who was the first person in your family to immigrate to the United States? Where did they come from? Whether you are a recent immigrant or your family has been in America for generations, our Family Heritage Project for teens will provide a better understanding of your heritage for all of us to share.

We also invite you to listen and share with us in a three-part event series starting June 6 to celebrate the launch of the first season of the Queens Memory Podcast, Memories of Migration. The podcast draws from oral history recordings with Queens residents. At each event, we will listen to a full episode from the season, followed by a talk-back session with a featured storyteller from the episode.

Let your imagination run free as you Create Your Family Flag! Combine colors and shapes that come from the flags of your family’s country or countries of origin, or use colors and pictures that are meaningful to your family, and make a unique family flag that celebrates your heritage.

Do you have a traditional costume from your ancestral country? Come and show it off at select locations in a Stories Around Clothes multicultural mini-fashion show.

These are just some of the great activities we have planned for Immigrant Heritage Month; to see our full schedule, visit our homepage this June!