Collection Guide
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Filipino American Library collection
6235
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Filipino American Library collection
Creator:
Filipino American Library (FAL)
Identifier/Call Number: 6235
Physical Description:
48.17 Linear Feet
49 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1910-2015
Abstract: 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 collection is currently divided
into two categories: (i) digitized material and (ii) minimally processed material. The digitized material consists of lantern
slides, bound volumes, photographic prints, maps, and other materials that the USC Digital Library digitized and described
at the item-level beginning in 2017. The minimally processed material consists of various types of material that have not
been digitized or described beyond this finding aid. Types of material grouped under the minimally processed series include
published books and periodicals, spiral-bound course readings, library routing requests, newspaper clippings, photocopies
of legal proceedings, unpublished manuscripts for journal articles, conference materials, brochures, pamphlets, travel guides,
newsletters, teacher and student workbooks, meeting minutes, correspondence, photograph albums, administrative records, subject
files, and audio and video recordings.
Language of Material:
English
, Tagalog
, Iloko
.
The Filipino American Library (FAL) 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. At the time, FAL comprised 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 FAL closed
its doors, its collections were dispersed among the USC Libraries and the Echo Park Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.
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 collection is currently divided
into two categories: (i) digitized material and (ii) minimally processed material. The digitized material consists of lantern
slides, bound volumes, photographic prints, maps, and other materials that the USC Digital Library digitized and described
at the item-level beginning in 2017.
The minimally processed material consists of various formats that have not been digitized or described beyond this finding
aid. Types of material grouped under the minimally processed series include published books and periodicals, spiral-bound
course readings, library routing requests, newspaper clippings, photocopies of legal proceedings, unpublished manuscripts
for journal articles, conference materials, brochures, pamphlets, travel guides, newsletters, teacher and student workbooks,
meeting minutes, correspondence, administrative records, subject files, photograph albums, and audio and video recordings.
Items selected by affiliates of the FAL to be made digitally available include lantern slides, bound volumes, photographic
prints, maps, and loose printed materials showing 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. Highlights of the Filipino American Library Collection include:
- Items commemorating Filipino veterans from World War II, including publications and a certificate of commendation from President Clinton;
- Bilingual short stories written by staff from the Asian American Bilingual Center about Asian immigrants and their journey and settlement to the United States;
- Reports, summaries, and recommendations surrounding the health, education, and welfare of Asian Americans;
- Ephemeral materials from the Philippines detailing geography, culture, religion, and life in the Philippines in the early 20th century.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special
Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Filipino American Library via Florante Ibanez and Paul Estuar, March 1, 2017.
[Box/folder no. or item name], Filipino American Library collection, Collection no. 6235, Special Collections, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California
Processing for the material described under the series titled "Digitized material" is complete. Thanks to generous support
from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the USC Libraries digitized this material for public access as part of the
L.A. as Subject Community Histories Digitization Project.
Material described under the series titled "Minimally processed material" is grouped by its previous labels and/or arrangement.
Each box-level record under this series is titled with an incomplete summary of the box's contents. Some of the box-level
records include scope and contents notes with more detailed, but still incomplete, inventories.
In October of 2022, the USC Libraries created an exhibition of material from the Filipino American Library collection for
Pilipino American History Month (PAHM). During the planning and curation of the PAHM exhibit, Alyssa Adraneda, Vanessa Gomez
Brake, Rebecca Corbett, Anne-Marie Maxwell, and Melanee Vicedo created notes and partial inventories of the contents of boxes
9-28. Each box's exhibit notes have been copied to the corresponding box-level records under the series titled "Minimally
processed material."
Most of the published books and periodicals that came in with the Filipino American Library acquisition were separated from
the archival collection and cataloged individually. The cataloged books are available via the main USC Libraries catalog search.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Asian Americans -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Asian Americans and libraries -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Filipino American authors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Filipino Americans -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Filipino diaspora -- Archival resources
Philippine periodicals -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Philippines -- Description and travel -- Archival resources
Philippines -- Emigration and immigration -- Archival resources
United States -- Armed Forces -- Asian Americans -- Archival resources
World War, 1939-1945 -- Veterans -- Archival resources
Administrative records
Books
Compact discs
Correspondence
Ephemera
Lantern slides
Maps
Moving images
Newsletters
Photograph albums
Photographs
Periodicals
Reports
Short stories
VHS
Workbooks
Filipino American Library (FAL) -- Archives
Brown, Helen Agcaoili Summers -- Archives