When Queens News caught up with Sikh community activist Jagir Singh Bains via phone recently, he was heading to a library to donate books.

"We want to educate non-Sikh Americans on Sikhs and Sikhism," Bains said.

The awareness campaign was started by the Sikhs "because of the confusion and mistaken identity about them among city residents, post-9/11/01," Bains said, and further explained: "Many innocent people have become victims of misplaced anger and hate because of their appearance. This project will improve the availability of information on Sikh culture, history and religion via multimedia resources."

Out of 62 community libraries in Queens, so far Bains and other Sikh community leaders have donated literature to 13; they are striving to make donations to the remaining libraries around the borough. [Link]