This article was published in collaboration with the Daily Trojan’s Spanish Supplement. Si gustas leer este artículo en español, haga clic aquí.
A few miles from USC lies a bookstore looking to bring Spanish literature to the children of Los Angeles. La Librería has over 8,000 books from various genres from countries across the Latin diaspora. They specialize in Spanish and bilingual English books to foster a multilingual education.
Celene Navarrete co-founded the bookstore 12 years ago when she couldn’t find bilingual books for her children. They started volunteering at book fairs around Los Angeles and met book publishers in Mexico. Two years later, they opened up an online bookstore and eventually opened a brick-and-mortar store.
“One thing for us that is very important is that every family that comes into the store, or every book that we send to a school, talks about our mission, the diversity in the Spanish-speaking countries.”
The bookstore partners with school districts such as the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the Los Angeles Public Library to bring bilingual books to the classroom and the general public. LAUSD data shows that 88% of its English-language learner students speak Spanish, the highest percentage of Spanish-speaking students across U.S. School districts.
The shelves are lined with books from around the world as well as ones from local authors, like Mike Alfaro, the creator of Sí Sabo Kids and the popular card game Millennial Lotteria. The goal is to highlight their work and give back to the community.
“Si Sabo Kids books are made so that even if you’re a parent that doesn’t know any Spanish at all, you can teach your kids Spanish with the books,” said Alfaro.
His books are written in English and Spanish with translations for both, allowing readers to practice both languages comfortably.
“If you start the book in English halfway through, it switches into Spanish, so that even if you’re reading in English, you’re forced to learn a little bit of Spanish. If you’re reading it in Spanish all the way through, halfway through, it switches to English for you,“ said Alfaro.
His reason for making the books bilingual stems from his experience raising his daughter. He wants her to grow up speaking English and Spanish.
“Kids growing up here in the United States, they’re going to be speaking English and Spanish, they’re going to go back and forth. And if you start fostering that early on in education, I think it becomes easier for them to do that,” said Alfaro.
In addition to authors, La Librería partners with local businesses. Once a month, the bookstore holds community events where kids participate in readings with local storytellers. Angelica Salceda, a library assistant for Anaheim public libraries, has been engaging young readers for years. She helps give parents tips on how to help their kids grow. She says one of the best ways parents can help their children is by reading to them from an early age.
“It is one of the only ways we exercise our brain, and it makes life so much easier for them,” said Salceda. “Reading is the base of everything.”
While books line the shelves, it’s people like Susanna Reyes and her children who make up the La Liberia community.
“Sometimes you can’t find certain books in other places, and they just have a big collection from different places,” said Reyes. They help her kids learn how to read and practice their Spanish.
“I like exposing my daughter to different countries. I have different books in Spanish, just encouraging multilingualism,” said Reyes.
Navarrete has noticed more people being interested in bilingual books, especially young parents from Hispanic and non-Hispanic families alike.
“They are very committed in raising their children [to] learning Spanish, not only English,” said Navarrete. She sees books as a way parents can connect their children with their culture while practicing their language skills.
“Talk to your kids about those stories, because many of those stories [are] probably your own story,” said Navarrete.
According to Forbes, one out of every three people in the United States is projected to speak Spanish by 2050. Bilingual books will become more important. Navarrete believes that libraries like hers can be an integral part of that future.
“We want to focus on what we have right now, so we have had great people in the community,” said Navarrete.“We also see that people like to meet here and find, in La Librería, a place where they can talk to other families who are raising bilingual children.”
