![[One-sentence description of what this media is: "A photo of a vaccine site on USC campus" or "Gif of dancing banana". Important for accessibility/people who use screen readers.]
A photo of Ariana Stein and Patty Rodriguez alongside a collection of books from Lil' Libros.](https://uscannenberg-uscannenberg-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/CH6XVZ5ECFFUDEUGXZD5PANBMM.png?smart=true&auth=5cfb7776f93d0a24917bbeb59a374037cefaeccac946564bd61e7dcd126fc45d&width=2815&height=1583)
Frustrated by the almost nonexistent number of bilingual books that they could read to their little ones, Ariana Stein and Patty Rodriguez from Lynwood, Calif. decided to fix the problem themselves. And so, in 2014 Lil’ Libros was born, a publishing company that introduces bilingualism and Latin American culture through picture board books.
Lil’ Libros will be a big deal at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 22-23. The company is making waves in the book world and is preparing to share its missions at the festival.
According to research conducted by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center from the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin, only 17% of books published by American publishers were by or about Latine people.
In their series, “The life of…” Lil’ Libros published books centered on iconic figures in Latine culture from Pelé to Dolores Huerta to Walter Mercado. In another series called “Vámonos,” each board book details different cities across Latin America like Havana, Cuba and Oaxaca, Mexico. All the books are written and illustrated by Latine creators, something that the Lil’ Libros team is very proud of.
The books published with Lil’ Libros aim to fill a gaping hole in the industry where Latines are often overlooked, misrepresented and underserved. While the community they wanted to serve was large, their entrance to the publishing scene was not welcoming or easy.
“A lot of publishers think that there is no room in the marketplace for these types of books, and Patty and Ariana faced that a lot,” said Melanie Romero, editor at Lil’ Libros. “They were turned away from numerous publishers just because they would tell them there’s actually no marketplace for bilingual books or books about… the local community.”
Romero said that although its name is more well-known, they are still faced with the challenges that accompany being overlooked by most companies in the publishing industry.
“We’ve definitely grown from there, and we’re glad to be out of that rejection phase,” Romero said. “It’s something that I think all publishers, whether small or big, that are bilingual or on the marginalized side are still facing.”
For Romero who grew up in Orange County, Calif., the work she does at Lil’ Libros is very personal because she grew up “being afraid and embarrassed” to speak her native language.
“I grew up in a very… white community. I wasn’t raised in a place where bilingualism or my culture was celebrated,” Romero said.
She became passionate about fixing the gap in the market where bilingual books were missing.
At the LA Times Festival of Books, Romero and other members of the Lil’ Libros team will be there with their entire collection of board books. There will also be guest appearances from some of their authors who will read their books aloud.
At the festival on Sunday, April 24 from 11:35 a.m. to 11:55 a.m. Lil’ Libros will be presenting “Cuentos and Doodles” with special guests at the LA Times En Español stage.