Patricia Mei-Yung Wong was born and raised in San Francisco, California;[1][2] she is Chinese American and a fourth generation Californian.

[4] Wong began her career as a children's librarian at the Oakland Public Library, developing programming for six different branches.

[5][3] She arranged multiple visits to elementary schools and worked to create partnerships between the library and local churches and other community organizations.

[11] Wong has been a part-time faculty at the San Jose State University School of Information since 2006, where she has taught courses on grant writing, management, and library services to young people.

[8][2][5] She has also served as a consultant for libraries on multiple topics, including fundraising, working with local communities, change management, youth development, and cultural diversity.