By John Tozzi
Almost 800 people attended free events at Saturday's festival, which was organized by the Queens Library's New Americans Program.”It's hard to reach out for some immigrants who hardly know English,” said Kim Younshin, a director of the program. “It's a good opportunity for us to basically inform newcomers about what we offer.”The New Americans Program helps recent immigrants learn English and get citizenship and legal services. It hosts public lectures and programs designed to help newcomers adapt to life in their new country.Saturday's event featured workshops in Chinese paper cutting and folding, Korean calligraphy and performances of traditional Korean and Chinese music and dance. About 230 people packed an afternoon performance by the Manhattan-based Red Silk Dancers, presenting dances from southeastern China, and many were turned away because the auditorium was full.The program was offered in English, Korean and Chinese to make it accessible to many members of the community, Younshin said. The annual festival used to be called the Chinese New Year, but three or four years ago the library changed it to Lunar New Year to broaden its appeal, Younshin said.”It's not only Chinese who celebrate the Lunar New Year,” she said.The library made a conscious effort to reach out to different members of the borough's diverse community.”We don't want to eliminate English-speaking people,” Younshin said. “We want to celebrate all together.”She added that libraries are important resources both for new immigrants and life-long Queens residents.”We're very happy. Flushing Library is doing a great job for outreach for newcomers,” she said. “We want to make sure the whole neighborhood is aware of what we're doing.”Reach reporter John Tozzi by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 188.
