Filipino American Library Collection
Owning Institution: University of Southern California Digital Library
About this Collection
The Filipino American Library Collection consists of materials owned by the Filipino American Library in Historic Filipinotown that were transferred to the University of Southern California Special Collections in 2017.The Filipino-American Library was founded in a church basement in 1985 as the Pilipino American Reading Room and Library (PARRAL) in a neighborhood close to Echo Park by Helen Agcaoili Summers Brown, affectionately referred to as “Auntie Helen” in the local community. In January of 2000 PARRAL moved to a new location on Temple Street and was renamed the Filipino American Library (FAL). It contained the largest collection of Filipino and Filipino American reading materials at more than 6,000 titles, and promoted literacy and cultural engagement through many community programs and exhibits. When the FAL closed its doors, its collections were dispersed among the USC Libraries and the Echo Park Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.
Items selected by affiliates of the FAL to be made digitally available include lantern slides, bound volumes, photographic prints, maps, and loose printed materials that all reveal the Filipino American experience spanning life in the Philippines, contributions by Filipino Americans in the World War II effort, and the acculturation and growth of the Filipino American community in Southern California. Materials are written in English, Tagalog, and Ilocano.
Thanks to generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the USC Libraries are digitizing this collection for public access as part of the L.A. as Subject Community Histories Digitization Project. View this collection on the contributor's website.
View our statement on digital primary resources and historical description.
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