Boston’s Chinatown is a cultural center for Asian American communities throughout the region. Chinatown’s neighborhood history and character are unique and deserve to be promoted and enhanced. In 1956, the Chinatown public library was demolished to build a highway. Without a branch library, opportunities for community celebration and development were lost. Public library resources and services democratize knowledge, are vital to the vibrancy and health of the community and help residents better understand and connect to their history, culture, and opportunities.
Friends of the Chinatown Library (FOCL), a group grounded in Boston Chinatown’s history and community, was launched in support of the youth campaign initiated in 2001 to bring back the branch library. Thanks to community organizing, a temporary library branch was opened in 2018 and a permanent library branch is expected to open in 2027. As a friends group that formed alongside community activism, FOCL carries the memory and ethos of what a public library means to the Boston Chinatown community.
Our Mission
TO advocate for equitable investment in the Chinatown Branch Library to meet the evolving needs of the Chinatown community. TO ensure that the Chinatown and the Greater Boston Asian American communities are fully represented and served. TO promote communication and collaboration between the Boston Public Library, its Chinatown branch, and Chinatown’s residents, neighboring community members and organizations. TO raise awareness about this library’s history and value to the Chinatown community by promoting its visibility, services, and programs. TO support and supplement regular branch library activities by providing museum passes, organizing activities and programs, tabling at community events, and hosting community meetings.