Honan-Allston Library Marks 25 Years With Continued Support From Harvard

Twenty-five years after the Honan-Allston Library opened on land donated by Harvard, the University continues to fund programs and improvements at the neighborhood branch, from sewing classes to technology upgrades.

The library, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, opened after Allston residents spent nearly two decades without a neighborhood branch. Harvard donated the land to the city of Boston in 1998 and has provided grants through the Harvard-Allston Partnership Fund since at least 2012.

The grants have supported the purchase of sewing machines, building safety improvements, and technology upgrades. Harvard also included improvements to the library in its 2025 Institutional Master Plan, a long-term planning agreement governing land use and community benefits for large institutions in Boston.

Sarah Markell, a former librarian at the branch, said Harvard’s land donation followed years of advocacy by Allston residents for a new public library. The neighborhood’s previous branch, located less than a mile away at 161 Harvard Ave., closed in 1981 due to statewide budget cuts.

“Part of the deal when the mayor realized this was to have a branch library be built, because the community had been advocating for one,” Markell said.

“There’d long been a desire on the part of the residents of Allston to have a branch located in Allston, since there are two in Brighton,” she added.

The Friends of the Honan-Allston Library, a nonprofit group that applies for grants to support the branch, received a $50,000 donation from Harvard when the library first opened, according to Markell, the group’s current secretary.

Markell said the University’s continued financial support has been essential to maintaining programming at the library.

She pointed to the library’s popular sewing classes, which have attracted enough interest to require a waiting list for new participants. The group hopes to expand the number of classes with additional funding.

“I can’t say enough about how generous and supportive the University has been,” Markell said.

Harvard first acquired the library’s lot in the late 1980s as part of its first major expansion into Allston. Through the developer Beal Companies, Harvard secretly purchased 52.6 acres of land in the neighborhood for a future campus expansion.

Harvard then donated the 57,000-square-foot parcel, which previously housed the McNamara Concrete Plant, to the city of Boston in 1998. The lot where the library sits today was emptied of cement equipment and converted to address environmental and health-related violations left by the plant. Part of the parcel was developed into the Raymond V. Mellone Park in 2011.

The University continues to maintain the park, which features a tiered seating area, small event lawn, and a rain garden.

“Harvard is proud of our support for the Honan-Allston library for the last quarter century and grateful for our continued partnership with the Friends of the Honan-Allston library,” University spokesperson Amy Kamosa wrote.

—Staff writer Thamini Vijeyasingam can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @vijeyasingam.

—Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at [email protected].