Chinatown Storefront Library
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
Partners in creating the Storefront Library included students at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, art and design collective Department of Micro Urbanism, students from Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Archstone Real Estate Company, and Friends of the Chinatown Library. Program partners included the Boston Nature Center, the Chinese Historical Society of New England, the Asian American Resource Workshop, READ Boston, the Boston Children's Museum and over thirty other organizations. See a full list of partners, sponsors, advisors, staff and volunteers here.
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. There is still no public library for Chinatown, however 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.
See latest project updates at top right of this page.
2017 Update!
2012 Update

PROJECT DATA
5000+ Books Donated
4100+ Books Shelved
1374 Books Circulated—54% Chinese
1335.5 Hours of Volunteer Public Service
540 Storefront Library Cards Issued
427 Hours Open
110 Events Produced
39 Volunteer Staff
2 Paid Staff
Boston Street Lab gathered anonymous data by means of a library card application form. Feedback was also collected in handwritten form, in Chinese and English, on-site. Volunteers translated, entered, and posted the feedback. View the full data here.
Storefront Library Web Site
Go Behind the Scenes: Our Blog
Get a sense of the day in, day out of the Storefront Library: browse an archive of our Blog Posts about the Storefront Library.
Storefront Library Staff
- Margaret (Maggie) Husak (Maggie is worked on developing and implementing Street Lab's Work in Progress. Maggie received her Master's from Tufts University in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. Prior she was Coordinator of Communications for the Harvard Green Campus Intiative at Harvard University. She is also a professional modern dancer and dance educator. She performs regularly with EgoArt and Weber Dance (based in Somerville), and with the Falling Flight Project (based in Cambridge). She has a BA from Brown University.
- 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)
- 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
- Heather Maclean
- Astrid Müller
- Patrick Murphy (Simmons GSLIS '10)
- June Ng
- Hope Nguyen
- Jane Polson (Simmons GSLIS '11)
- Sarah Price
- Jerry Russo
- Melissa Saggerer (Simmons GSLIS '10)
- Amy Sloper
- Sharon Tomasulo (Simmons GSLIS)
- Dat Tran
- Phoenix Wang
- Maria Wong
- Valerie Wong
- Annie Wu
- Emily Wu
- Cynthia Yee
- Shirley Yu
- Maple Zou
Storefront Library PARTNERSHIPS 2009
Space Partners
- 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)
Project Advisors
Program Partners
- 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
Program Partners
- Boston Public Health Commission
- Boston Public Library
- Beatrice Chen
- Chinese Historical Society of New England
- Chinese Progressive Association
- Common Boston
- Drawing Lab, Deb Putnoi
- Jasper Goldman
- Grub Street
- Hep B Initiative
- Home Movie Day
- David Jenkins
- Jean Lukitsh, Films at the Gate
- Opera Boston
- Papercut Zine Library
- READ Boston
- Greg Tang
- Jon Turk
- Weber Dance
- Woo Ching White Crane
STOREFRONT LIBRARY SPONSORS 2009
Storefront Library Supporters 2009
- 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
- Amy Koo
- Victoria Kuohung, in honor of Alden Shuen
- The Learning Project Elementary School
- Cindy Lee
- Jeanne M Lee
- John & Nancy Legates
- Moying Li
- Thomas W. Lincoln
- Matthew Littell
- Lisa Tang Liu
- May Louie
- Pong Louie
- Jean Lukitsh
- Thomas Ma
- Dwayne Martin
- Massachusetts Dept. of Children and Families
- Liz McNerney
- David Moy
- Astrid K Müller
- Northeastern University Asian American Center
- Yvonne Ng
- Yukie Ohta
- Sarah Price
- Deb Putnoi
- Alexandra Quinn
- Adam Robinson
- Social Action Committee at Beth El Temple, Belmont MA
- Susan Steinway
- Siri Striar and Francisco Hernandez
- Taipei Economic & Culture Office in Boston
- Iris Tan
- Lisa Thurau-Gray & Jack Gray
- Sarina Tcherepnin
- Irene Tsai
- Tufts University Exposure Student Photojournalism Group
- Emily Wade
- Cindy Wang
- Virginia Ward
- Susan Wayne
- Leah Williams
- Chauncy Wilson
- Lisa Wong M.D.
- Rose Wong
- Ziping Wu
- Shirley Yang
- Pai-Ling Yin
- Peter Ying
- Eva Young
- Tommy Yung
- Yali Zhang
Press
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
- 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
- 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
- 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"
- Asian Voices for Organized Youth for Community Empowerment "Chinatown Storefront Library by MeiHua Li, Oak Terrace"
- Movements and Moments: Ethnic Studies and Asian American Activism "Open Mic at the Library"
- Storefront Library on The Communication Initiative Network
- Storefront Library Volunteer Emily Wu writes about her experience at Boston Ministry
- Wong/Yee Memorial Gallery "Come to the Exhibit Opening of Insert: Collaborations"
- A shout from a Storefront Library Volunteer on her blog: Library Hungry
- The Chinatown Blog "Letter from Chinatown Storefront Library"
- Storefront Library: Bringing Community to Downtown Boston on Apples and VCRs.
- Partners for Livable Communities [7/22/2010] "Interim Use of Abandoned Properties a Welcome Trend" Jennifer Swartz
- Stuff Boston [12/14/09] "You Say You Want a Resolution?" Scott Kearnan (Resolution #13 "Bring Art to the Masses.")
OUR RECENT BLOG POSTS ABOUT THE STOREFRONT LIBRARY:
Books and culture in Boston’s Chinatown, new effort underway

We concluded the Storefront Library over a year ago in Chinatown, and tonight I’m excited to share photos of something new underway which I believe has tremendous potential to carry the torch forward in the neighborhood. Terrific people are getting behind a new, energetic effort to create a space for Chinatown that can offer books, […]

Creating a community Storefront Library is an odd line of work—exhausting and exhilarating, a thousand mundane details and then moments that move you to tears, all in a day’s work. I suppose it’s like being a librarian, on a kind of stage. One thing is for certain, there aren’t many people doing it. So when […]
Boston Globe editorial, Chinatown library

The Boston Globe published an editorial this morning proposing that the city, Boston Public Library and members of the Chinatown community sit down with developers of a lot on Washington St. and renegotiate a public benefits package to re-direct funding towards the creation of new branch of the BPL in existing underutilized space in the […]
Storefront Library plants a seed at Oak Terrace

Here’s an update on one of the small ripples created by the Storefront Library in Boston’s Chinatown following our closing in February. At the conclusion of the project, our volunteers and staff went to great lengths to distribute the components of the Storefront Library to seed emerging projects in the neighborhood. Read more here. At […]

Dear Patrons, Supporters and Sponsors, The last day of the Storefront Library at 640 Washington St. will be Sunday, January 17, 2010. If you haven’t had a chance to come by, please do! This weekend, in addition to storytime and a special science activity, we’ll be giving tours for the American Librarians’ Association Midwinter Conference. […]
We're in this (space) together

At the Storefront Library, whether you’re attending a program, reading a newspaper, or working the Drawing Lab, you’ll find yourself among people making the most of a formerly vacant storefront—doing things together and doing things “alone.” As always, we’re open late on Thursday until 8PM. And we’ve got your favorite bilingual storytime at 6PM featuring […]
Sunday: go ahead, draw on the walls & talk
Drawing Workshop in the Storefront Library Sunday, January 10, 12PM-3PM. MAKE YOUR MARK and DRAW in the Drawing Lab! Come DRAW and EXPLORE with artist, Deb Putnoi. You will: Draw to music and different sounds; Draw using your sense of TOUCH as your guide; Experiment with DIFFERENT DRAWING MATERIALS; Draw on different kinds of papers […]
Saturday in the Storefront
Start off with Storytime at 11:30AM. We’ll read the Very Hungry Caterpillar and make our own caterpillars to take home. We’ll be bilingual throughout (English and Cantonese). Thanks to Volunteer Staff Laura Jean and Celia for teaming up for this event. Then, from 12PM-1PM, join educators from Opera Boston for an hour of special storytelling […]
Moose in the Library—Storytime Tonight
Tonight’s storytime is all about moose. Join readers Sharon Tomasulo and Annie Wu at 6PM for Moose Tracks by Karma Wilson and If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff. We’ll make our own antlers to wear. Bilingual reading (Cantonese). The Library is open Thursday nights until 8PM. When you visit the Storefront […]
“In the absence of informal public life, living becomes more expensive. Where the means and facilities for relaxation and leisure are not publicly shared, they become the objects of private ownership and consumption.” – Ray Oldenburg As we enter the home stretch for the Storefront Library at 640 Washington St, Boston Street Lab is running […]
View all of our blog posts about the Storefront Library here.