Inspiring Conversations with Andrew Yip, Amy J. Wong of Matilija Collective

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Yip, Amy J. Wong.

Hi Andrew Yip, Amy J. Wong, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We opened Matilija Lending Library on March 19, 2022. As lifelong residents of the San Gabriel Valley (SGV), we wanted to give back to our community and create a space where people could come together around books, art, history, and community. We want to affirm our community that we hold power, we matter, and our stories matter.

The idea was a part of Amy’s vision board, born out of a desire to have a book space by, and for, the SGV community. Storytelling is a powerful tool. Authors such as Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler helped shape our liberatory imaginations. The both of us are committed to social justice, and have worked at local community nonprofits for over a decade. When there was an opportunity to take over a vacant storefront near Main Street in El Monte, we took it and ran with it. We were inspired by other bookstores with community programming, such as All Power Books, and Midnight Books, and realized there wasn’t one in the center of the SGV. What began as a library has since grown into Matilija Collective, a volunteer-run community space that hosts grassroots community events, workshops, and teach-ins.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Operating Matilija has come with administrative and financial challenges, similar to what many other small businesses in the area face. Downtown El Monte, or “Valley Mall”, as we like to call it, is a unique place, with many local mom-and-pop shops and restaurants, some of which have been around for decades. It’s important for us to support local, and to support each other. As a nonprofit, we rely on volunteers and donations to keep us afloat. It truly makes a difference when people donate, either through their time and energy with volunteering, or monetarily. Long-term stability is something we’re still figuring out as we go.

As a “third space”, we want to allow people to just exist. Visitors don’t have to pay for anything if they don’t have the means to. In many ways, we also act as a social service center. In fact, most libraries are social service centers, since we provide services beyond books. We have free wifi, water, face masks, and more. It’s challenging when we don’t have the capacity to fully provide what folks need, such as mental health services or housing. But we try our best to point people in the right directions, in terms of resources.

Even as we face these challenges, it’s been encouraging to see the outpour of support from our community. We’re currently open one day a week, Saturdays 1-5pm, similar to how a weekly farmers’ market operates. Most folks who visit us are intentional about it, which we appreciate. We hear comments like, “I wish I had a space like this growing up”, which gives us the momentum we need to keep going.

We’ve been impressed with Matilija Collective, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Matilija Collective is a grassroots, volunteer-run community library and creative space centering BIPOC stories and power in the San Gabriel Valley. Our mission is to reflect and uplift the lives and stories of BIPOC communities in El Monte and across the SGV, to celebrate our diverse communities in the San Gabriel Valley, and build multi-racial solidarity together.

We chose to name ourselves after the Matilija Poppy, a native plant in Southern California. It has a distinctive look, with its flowers appearing like fried eggs: yellow in the center, with white petals. Even after experiencing fire, matilija seeds germinate and flourish. We hope to carry that transformative spirit at our space. We want to ensure our community has a safe “third space” they can go to, not just for books, but for community resources, connections; a space that centers our joy and resilience.

We have a collection of over 1,000 books by BIPOC authors, and we function as a library, so you can come in and borrow books for free for a month. We try to connect with local authors. One of our most popular books is “East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte”, a collection of essays that tells the history of our community. We have a sale section with books and merch items, and 100% of proceeds go back into supporting our work. We also have a section for free resources, like zines, face masks, and “Know Your Rights” cards. Lastly, we host free/ donation-based community events, which range in topics from literary events, cultural events, healing justice events, and more. We collaborate often with other grassroots and nonprofit organizations who share similar values as us.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
To us, success is defined as community-building and creating space for others to be in community with one another. We’re hyperfocused on serving the SGV. We ask ourselves, how are we contributing to the community? How are we helping to provide resources? How are we spreading joy? It’s most important to be empathetic, and to stay vigilant in knowing what our working class communities need and are interested in.

We’re ever-evolving, constantly adapting to meet our community members where they’re at, while still being grounded by our values of equity and justice. For example, we started distributing “Know Your Rights” cards earlier this year in response to the raids, and supporting mutual aid efforts by our friends at Operation Healthy Hearts. These were actions we felt we needed to take, to protect each other. Earlier this year, we hosted the Hermosa Y Libros Book Festival, which uplifted Latinx and BIPOC authors through bookstore and poetry panels, an open mic, book vendors, and more. Most recently, we hosted a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration, a holiday celebrated by Chinese and other Asian communities. We had live music by local musicians, local vendors, mooncakes, mahjong, and more, which brought out people of all ages and backgrounds. We’ve heard a lot of interest in mahjong, so we decided to purchase mahjong sets and will host more mahjong nights soon.

To stay updated on our work, we encourage folks to visit us at our space, follow us on Instagram, volunteer, and if you have the means to, donate. Sharing about our efforts with friends and family helps. With your support, we can continue operating and giving back to our community. Thank you!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://matilijacollective.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matilijacollective

Image Credits
Andrew Yip
Daniel Ruiz-Camacho