IN-PERSON: Prague – Section B

Abstract

Public branch libraries play important roles in immigrant communities as sites of assimilation and/or integration, economic training, gathering, activism, ethnic identity assertion, and memorialization. The histories of branch libraries are stories about the development of the neighborhoods they serve, the preservation of culture and identity, as well as the growth of coalitions and divisions. When branch libraries are under-funded or even missing from immigrant neighborhoods, how do residents fill in the gap? And what does this mean for the practice of community development in ethnic enclaves struggling to memorialize their histories and defend territory in cities? Through archival research, media analysis, and interviews, this paper explores these questions by documenting the 150-year history of a grassroots movement to preserve the Chinatown Branch of Boston’s Public Library (BPL). While initially the addition or removal of the branch was largely an extension of city policy intended to Americanize immigrants, eventually the presence of a Chinatown library became an extension of grassroots community movements aimed at preserving cultural heritage. The once-transient branch finally became permanent in 2018. Two important and paradoxical mechanisms led to the permanence of this hyperlocal institution: 1) the organizing of Chinatown youth who wanted to stay connected to their heritage in the rapidly changing neighborhood as well as 2) the resources of new residents who were unintentionally gentrifying the neighborhood. This historical analysis demonstrates that branch libraries serve as critical spaces of memory and local knowledge for immigrant populations whose histories are often erased in the city.