The mid to late nineteenth century saw the first major wave of Asian immigrants to America. Today, there are 20.6 million people who identify as Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander according to the 2020 U.S. Census. This population of Americans is incredibly diverse both racially and ethnically, composed of people with varied backgrounds such as Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, to name but a few.

This guide describes significant Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) resources that are available in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room and held by the Serial & Government Publications Division. It covers newspapers, academic journals, magazines, comic books, government documents, and print reference works, and provides links to both subscription-based and freely available resources. This guide is not a complete list of everything the division has related to this topic.

Note: Some AAPI serials are held in the Asian Division at the Library of Congress if they are printed in non-Roman characters, such as Chinese American ethnic press newspapers published primarily in Chinese.

For assistance, please call the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room at (202)-707-5690 to speak to a librarian or contact us through the Ask a Librarian online form.