Using horse-drawn carriages, a delivery station in Frank Howe’s drugstore at 26 Franklin Street first provided library service to Allston in 1889. In 1905, the Allston Reading Room opened at 354 Cambridge Street and became a full-service branch in 1924.

The branch moved to 161 Harvard Avenue in 1929 and was closed following statewide budget cuts in 1981. The current location opened on June 16, 2001, designed by Machado & Silvetti Associates, Inc. On March 13, 2003 the branch was renamed the Honan-Allston Branch in honor of the late City Councilor Brian Honan.