ABOUT

The Storefront Library was a temporary library in Boston’s Chinatown from October 2009 through January 2010. National real estate firm Archstone donated temporary use of a 3,000 square-foot storefront space at 640 Washington Street, allowing use of the space while it was in between tenants and not on the market. The library offered approximately 5,000 books in both Chinese and English, computer terminals and Internet access, newspapers, a children’s reading area, and a mix of programs and activities—all visible to passersby on the street. Volunteer staff provided the public with translation help, general information and orientation. Ongoing library programs and services included:

• The Drawing Lab, a self-guided, interactive installation for drawing activities, created by local artist Deb Putnoi;
• The Human Development Studio, a drop-in, one-stop resource for neighborhood development information and social services, run by local nonprofit Asian Community Development Corporation;
• Multi-lingual story hours, led by volunteer staff and held twice weekly;
• Weekly drop-in English conversation group, moderated by library volunteers.

Other special programs included health education, movie nights, spoken word, cultural demonstrations and exhibitions, literacy education, and a variety of workshops and activities for children.

WHY

Boston’s Chinatown has been without a library since 1956. Boston Street Lab founders Sam and Leslie Davol live with their two children in Chinatown. As of January 2009, efforts to bring a branch of the Boston Public Library to the neighborhood were stalled. With the blessing of the Friends of the Chinatown Library, a long-time advocacy group, Boston Street Lab partnered with graduate students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design to transform a vacant storefront into a temporary, community-based library.
The purpose of the project was to give people the experience of a library, as well as model lighter and quicker ways of realizing needs for civic, cultural and community space. It was agreed that the installation would be temporary so that Boston Street Lab could borrow space and realize it quickly and inexpensively, and so that the Friends of the Chinatown Library could continue their campaign for a permanent branch of the Boston Public Library following the project.

PARTNERSHIPS

PROJECT OUTCOMES

The Storefront Library successfully gave people—particularly children—the experience of a library in Chinatown. It also provided much-needed public space and increased the capacity of a variety of other nonprofit organizations to engage the public at street level and coordinate their work. The project was implemented efficiently and affordably, making use of underutilized resources, donations, borrowed items, and volunteers, without sacrificing quality. Boston Street Lab funded the project with cash donations from individuals and organizations. The remaining requirements for the project (including space, materials, equipment, services, and personnel) were fulfilled with in-kind donations, donated or borrowed items, and volunteers.

Support for the Storefront Library was widespread throughout its three month operation. For example, the Mayor of Boston, many local and city officials, and a representative of the Governor of Massachusetts attended the Storefront Library’s Oct 14, 2009 opening. The President of the Boston Public Library and members of her staff also attended and returned at a later date to see the Storefront Library in operation. Governor Deval Patrick awarded Boston Street Lab a citation for community service to the Chinatown community. The Chinese Progressive Association awarded Boston Street Lab its 2010 Social Justice and Innovation Award. All of this attention successfully generated a broader conversation about the importance of libraries to our collective public life at a time when many urban public library systems—including Boston’s—are closing branches or reducing hours.

The Storefront Library closed in Feb 2010 according to plan, in order to allow the community, via the Friends of the Chinatown Library, to push for a more traditional, city-funded branch. All books were transferred to the Friends for safekeeping and use. The Storefront Library has reinvigorated the Chinatown community’s campaign for permanent library services in the neighborhood:

• the Friends of the Chinatown Library has expanded its membership. The Friends also recently received a grant from a large foundation to plan a community-based library modeled on the Storefront Library;
• a library is now included in the community’s Master Plan, intended to express the community’s vision and priorities for future neighborhood development;
• there has been increased attention to the issue, including press and statements by elected officials. Groups around the country dealing with closing libraries are contacting Boston Street Lab.
• More updates at top right of this page.

• Amy Cheung, Storefront Library Program Manager 2009-10
• Shujuan Yu, Library Assistant 2009-10

• Matt Amory (Simmons GSLIS ’10)
• Fran Keenan (Simmons GSLIS ’10)
• Laura Jean Miller (Simmons GSLIS ’08)
• Adam Robinson (Simmons GSLIS ’10)

Storefront Library Volunteers:

• Devin Ashe
• Brianna Belanger (Simmons GSLIS ’11)
• Lucy Borgheiinck (Simmons GSLIS ’11)
• Jing Cao
• Kwan Cheung
• Amalia Child (Simmons GSLIS ’11)
• Jewel Chin
• Susan Chin
• Michael Ho
• Tony Huang
• Julie Lam
• Rebecca Lee
• Cara Lei
• Cindy Li

A partial list of space partners, property owners and managers with whom we’ve worked to bring programs to public space since 2009.

• Archstone (donated temporary use of commercial storefront space)
• HallKeen Real Estate and Midway Studios (donated temporary use of raw commercial storefront space)
• Independence Wharf and Cushman & Wakefield (donated temporary use of waterfront commercial space)
• Wong Family Association and Albert Leung, Hei La Moon and Apollo Restaurants (donated temporary use of outdoor space)

• Asian Pacific American Librarians Association
• Boston Public Library
• Friends of the Chinatown Library
• Nate Hill (Brooklyn Public Library)
• Quincy Elementary School Library
• Simmons Grad. School of Library and Information Sciences

A partial list of program partners, individuals and organizations with whom we’ve worked to bring programs to public space since 2009.

• Phil Amara
• ArtGarden
• Asian American Studies Program at University of
• Massachusetts, Boston
• Asian American Resource Workshop
• Asian American Civic Association
• Asian Community Development Corporation—HDOD Project
• Asian Sisters Participating in Reaching Excellence
• Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence
• Bay State College
• Be The Match
• City of Boston, Talk Read Play
• Boston Children’s Museum
• Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
• Boston Nature Center/Mass Audubon

STOREFRONT LIBRARY SPONSORS

• Asian Pacific American Librarians’ Association
• Sarah Baker & Tim Albright
• Homeless Rights Project in honor of Jane Bock
• Kate & Gerald Chertavian
• Leslie & Sam Davol
• Harpreet & Sharon Grewal
• Daniel Handler & Lisa Brown
• Carolyn Lattin & Venkat Venkatraman
• Rebecca A. Lee
• Bob McInerney
• Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center
• Peach Corporation
• PK Shiu
• Karen & Dan Taylor
• Elizabeth and Peter Thomson
• Brattle Book Shop (books)
• Cheng & Tsui (books)
• Design Communications Ltd (signage)
• Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society (books)
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (books)
• Qualtrics (statistical analysis tools)
• Penpower Technology, Ltd (input devices)
• Project_ (graphic design)

SPECIAL THANKS

• Alice Hennessey, Special Assistant to the Mayor
• Amy Ryan, President, Boston Public Library and Boston Public Library Staff
• Christopher Adams, Boston Police Department
• Kevin Cameron, Archstone
• The Chinatown Coalition
• Chinatown Residents Association
• Frank Chin
• Denny Ching, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services
• Stephanie Fan
• Anne E. Gancarz
• Courtney Ho Ha
• Debbie Ho
• Jerry Huang
• Dr. Peter Kiang (江念祖), Professor of Education and
• Director, Asian American Studies Program, UMass Boston
• Shirley Mark, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University
• Kenneth Morin
• National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (Senior Community Service Employment Program)
• Jeremy Osborn
• Fernando Silva, Archstone
• Woo Ching White Crane
• Ben Stumpf & Concord Academy
• Sarah Sze
• Jen Wang
• Cynthia Yee
• Raymond Yu, Pandamonium Design
• Tommy Yung, Boston Police Department

• Anonymous
• Christina Afante
• Susan Saaz Barsky and Arthur J Barsky III
• Lisa M. Berger, MPH, CP-FS, Berger Food Safety Consulting
• Romualdo Faura Bernabé
• Boston University TESOL program
• Winifred Black
• Carl Brauer & Nancy Schieffelin
• Lois Bronnenkant
• Robert Bulger
• Naomi Bushman, Fletcher Copp
• CE Bilingual Books
• Kimberlee Chestnut Chan
• Caroline Chang
• Betty Chen
• Kathleen & Lawrence Cheng
• Kwan & Po Keung Cheung
• Chicopee Public Library
• Nancy Gwon Chin
• Susan Chin
• Chinatown Main Street
• Chinese Economic Development Corporation
• Chinese Progressive Association
• Tsang Siu Ching
• Laurie Collins & Newbury Town Library
• Garen Corbett
• Lenore J. Cowen
• Anna & Peter Davol
• Patricia Dilberto
• Willard Donham
• Dawn C. Donovan
• Julie Duncan
• Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP
• Phoebe Erb
• Linda Garrity
• Merla C Gaut
• Josh Goldfein
• Susan Goldsmith
• Myra & Roy Gordon
• Jared Green & Laurence Vanleynseele
• Municipal Government of Hangzhou
• June & Mac Harris
• Rita Harris
• Susan Hayes
• Höweler + Yoon Architecture
• Ching Hsia-Wu
• Chien-Chi Huang
• Brenden Hussey
• Alice Isenberg
• Fran Keenan
• Fredericka King
• Hiroko Kikuchi & Jeremy Chi-Ming Liu
• Richard Kiley

RADIO, TV, PRINT

• WBUR [10/15/09] “In Chinatown, Borrowed Books On Borrowed Time”
• Boston Globe [9/21/09] “Residents Hope Storefront Library is Preface to Branch”
• Boston Globe [9/25/09] “Storefront Library Exposes Gap”
• Neighborhood Network News [12/11/09]“Chinatown Storefront Library”
• Architecture Boston—The Lurker “Lending a Library”
• Boston Herald [1/17/10] “Experimental library closes in success”
• Library Journal [5/15/10] A grass-roots library experiment brought temporary service back to Boston’s Chinatown

LOCAL/CHINESE-LANGUAGE PRESS

• Sampan [2/5/10] “Storefront Library and Films at the Gate affirmed, civic institutions continue to grow and adapt.”
• Boston Chinese News [12/18/10] 唐人街店面圖書館 位於臨街空置店面的臨時圖書館
• Sampan [11/20/09] “A work in progress, the Chinatown Storefront Library grows with its community.”
• Sampan [10/23/09] Library finally opens in Chinatown, for a season
• World Journal [10/16/09] 唐人街店面圖書館 啟用

STUDENT/INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

• Storefront Library Radio Feature by Abby Conway
• Storefront Library (alt.npr) by Mark S (Story also available via prx.org)
• Project highlights demand for permanent Chinatown branch by Caylan Davis on JSONS Journalism Students’ Online News Service
• Chinatown Library Project (YouTube) by Ina Chu
• Boston’s Chinatown Storefront Library by David Cheng

BLOGS ABOUT LIBRARIES

• Eric Hellman: “Back to the Future at the Storefront Library”
• Richard Kong: “Chinatown Storefront Library”
• Asian/Pacific American Librarian Assn: Chinatown Storefront Library in Boston”
• Bryan Loar: Brave New World “Pop-up Libraries”
• Bookable “Library Space Re-imagined”
• PLA Blog “The Chinatown Storefront Library”