The Librería is an ongioing project, not intended to be exhaustive. The collection now permanently lives at San Francisco State University, and students will continue to grow and activate it. For now, the list is available for reference and will continue to grow as new books are published or recommended. In the future, SFSU Central American Studies courses will partner with organizations such as the San Francisco Public Library to ensure a significant portion of the titles are represented in their catalogue. 

 

You can email saladedeseos@gmail.com with recommendations. You can also contact us if you want to donate a book to the collection. The najority of the books in the Librería are written by Diaspora writers with a few exceptions. Those titles provide important context and history that impact Diasporic experiences. 

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Muralist, Fredricko Alvarado, was commissioned to paint the Librería cabinet and mural. Hernández-Linares asked him if he could create a mural that included a typical Central American "chicken bus" but with books instead. A long time colleague and collaborator, Alvarado perfectly responded to her prompt. 

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A note on the name of this collection: Writing and poetry, along with community building, are at the core of Hernández-Linares' artistic practice. She often incorporates alliteration and word play into her poems. This title was inspired by a phrase she coined "Libro, Libre, Leyendo, Leyenda" which represents the idea that books (libros) free (libre) us because by reading (leyendo) we can learn about our legends, myths, histories (leyenda). 

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In Spanish, the word "librería" means "bookshop". In this context, Hernández-Linares invokes the term to signify a place of books, frankly, because "biblioteca" messes up her alliterative vibe and also because it is a poetic riff, not a lesson on Spanish language vocabulary. Ultimately, this place of books, and in general, spaces where we can share our stories and speak our truths, can liberate us. 

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