On Sunday, L.A.’s only children’s Spanish-language bookstore opened the doors of its new location in West Adams. Originally opened over a decade ago as a small showroom, La Librería has since grown into a proper bookstore.
The 2,400 square foot space is La Librería’s largest storefront yet, featuring stories from all Latin American countries. The store prioritizes a selection of books for Spanish speakers up to the age of 15.
Owner Celene Navarrete sees literary representation as the bookstore’s focus. She hopes to expand Spanish literacy among local youth.
“We see a need for for this type of resource, and not only for families who speak Spanish, but also for the communities who value bilingual education — that see the benefits of raising their kids bilingual,” Navarrete said.
Navarrete co-founded La Librería in 2012. It started off as an online bookstore and developed into a small warehouse space in West Adams, where the owners hosted story time readings and events. The events were loved by so many that more people began to show up than they could fit, she said. They made it their goal to find a space that could serve the large community of Spanish speakers in L.A. The opening marks the start of this journey.
“We consider that this is very important because this gives (us) the opportunity to build a community,” Navarrete said. “Right when you come to the bookstore, you talk to other families that are also interested in this type of literature, this type of collections, and that help you, you know, to connect with other people in Los Angeles.”
Navarrete is looking to expand the bookstore’s workshop programming now that the new space has opened, one of these being a program for teacher development.
“We want teachers to come to the store to see our collections, to browse the books, to, you know, even to have their meetings to make decisions on what collections they they want to get for for their classroom,” said Navarrete.
Families at nearby schools were intrigued by the idea of a Spanish-only children’s bookstore in the neighborhood. Levi, a father, said encouraging kids to speak more than one language is beneficial.
“Yes, it’s great idea,” he said. “I feel that when kids speak two languages, they get curious to learn a third one. It makes it very easy for them to be multilingual.”
Navarrete said the bookstore aims to be a safe and inclusive space for all kids who want to learn Spanish, and a gathering place for the community.