Lorna Chee celebrates the 100th birthday of SF Chinatown Library

(SAN FRANCISCO) This year marks the 100th anniversary of San Francisco Chinatown Branch Library. There has been no official celebration for its birthday in the midst of the pandemic. But Lorna Chee, one of the longest serving librarians in the Chinatown Branch, and many of the library lovers celebrate the milestone of service by visiting the century-old library everyday.

Chinatown Branch Library was built in 1921 at the same current location, on Powell Street between Washington and Jackson Streets, and named the North Beach Branch. It was opened for service on February 28 with an opening ceremony. It is the third branch in the history of San Francisco under the city library system.

37 years later, the name was changed to Chinatown Branch in 1958 to more accurately reflect the community served. In 1972, the Chinese language collections were started in response to the needs and interests of the Chinatown community.

In the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, the Chinatown Branch Library was found to have cracks on the rooftop. In 1991, public and private funds were obtained for a major renovation and expansion of the Chinatown Branch Library. The branch was temporarily closed in October 1993 and moved to a site on Grant Avenue for over two years.

In the renovation project, the Chinatown Branch was seismically retrofitted and expanded to twice its original size with a community meeting room and story-room available to use for programs and special events. The branch was reopened on June 15, 1996.

June 15 has been designated as the day for celebration of its reopening every year since 1996. The branch was renamed Chinatown / Him Mark Lai Branch Library on November 4, 2010. The renaming proposal was approved by the City to recognize and remember the contribution of Late Chinese American Historian Him Mark Lai who had close connections with the library and did much of his research on San Francisco Chinatown.

Lorna Chee joined the Chinatown Branch in 1982 and became the Branch Manager in 2007. She retired in 2018. Even though Chee has retired from the position for four years, she still visits the library and enjoys her time there everyday.

For Chee, Chinatown Branch was where she worked for 36 years. It was her dream job since she was a little girl when she visited and stayed in the library to read books.

"I was born in San Francisco Chinatown. I was influenced by my mom who brought my two sisters, my younger brother and myself to the Chinatown Library. I liked to read books in the library. We borrowed several dozen books every week to bring them home. I read eight books a week," said Chee in the interview.

"I was so lucky that all my dreams came true," Chee said. Chee had dreamed of working as a librarian when she visited the Chinatown Library in her childhood. She went to Lowell High School and enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley for college. She earned her Master Degree in Library Science at UC Berkeley.

Chee can speak and write Chinese language well. She credited it again to her mother. "My mom also has an influence on my Chinese language skill. My mom liked to go to the Great Star Theatre in Chinatown to see the Chinese language movies. I liked it too. My mom sent us to take the Chinese classes in Chinatown after school. I learned my foundation of speaking and writing Chinese mostly in school, " said Chee.

During the time when Chee was a student at UC Berkeley, she travelled to Taiwan and stayed for over two years to study more about Chinese writing. She was hired by the City and worked at the Chinatown Branch Library in 1982 until she retired in 2018.

Chee decided to retire to take care of her aging mother who still lives in Chinatown near the library. When Chee has some free time, she would come back to the library where she worked for her entire career.

Chee is one of the longest serving librarians in Chinatown. Judy Yung, a renowned Chinese American historian who passed away late last year, was the first Chinese American to be the Chinatown Branch Manager.

Chee praised Yung's advocacy for the first Chinese language collections to be introduced into the Chinatown Branch in 1972. It still carries the largest Chinese language book and periodical collections in San Francisco among all city owned and operated libraries.

"Judy was always my role model," said Chee, who followed Yung's footsteps to serve in the library. Chee and Yung had many things in common. They were born in Chinatown. Both spoke and wrote Chinese language very well. They also graduated from UC Berkeley with a Master Degree in Library Science.

Yung joined the Chinatown Branch Library in 1969 and resigned in 1979 to join the Oakland Public Library to establish the Chinese language collections system there. Chee followed Yung later to serve at the Oakland Public Library on a part-time basis.

The century old Chinatown Branch Library is not only a library, it functions more than a library. It has become a part of many Chinese Americans' daily lives. Many of them visit the library everyday to read the Chinese language materials and use the computers to go online for updated information. Chee and many of them love to spend their time in the Chinatown Branch everyday.