Colonia Guadalupe Is Home to San Miguel’s First Official “Little Free Library”

Published April 23, 2021

By Catherine Marenghi

Colonia Guadalupe’s Little Free Library, first launched in 2019, is now an officially registered site, one of more than 100,000 Little Free Libraries worldwide and the first in San Miguel de Allende. It is part of a global phenomenon that is bringing millions of free books to readers. Passers-by are invited to take a book, or leave a book, free of charge.

The now-familiar green bookcase, mounted on an exterior wall on Calle Julián Carrillo across from Gil’s Market, was the brainchild of local artist Lena Bartula, owner of La Huipilista Artspace in Colonia Guadalupe. Every year, while visiting family in the U.S., she enjoyed exploring Little Free Libraries in local neighborhoods. She thought, “Why not in San Miguel?”

The registration and signage for the Little Free Library in San Miguel were funded by Lena Bartula and local writer Catherine Marenghi. Both women reside in Colonia Guadalupe.

The timing is auspicious. UNESCO has designated April 23 as World Book and Copyright Day. April 23 is symbolic since, on that day in 1616, Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died. The date also coincides with the birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla, and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

The UNESCO General Conference in Paris in 1995 decided to pay a universal tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, particularly young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and to acknowledge authors who have promoted social and cultural progress.

In 2001, at the initiative of UNESCO, Madrid was named the World Book Capital. Since then every April 23, a selection committee made up of representatives of international publishers, booksellers, and UNESCO, chooses different cities in the world that carry out cultural activities related to books during the year. The committee selected Mexico City in 2016.

Sometimes Little Free Libraries are simple wooden boxes; sometimes, elaborate miniature houses. San Miguel’s Little Free Library is one of only a few in the country of Mexico.

Tomás Joachin Bürkey Marambio, an artist and Guadalupe neighbor, agreed to make his home on Julián Carrillo the site of the Little Free Library. In September 2019, the first version of the book exchange was a small second-hand book stand on the sidewalk outside Tomás’s building.

The idea took off quickly. Books filled the shelves as quickly as they were taken away.

Tomás designed a more permanent, weather-proof book display and contracted a local carpenter to build it. The cabinet is painted a cheerful green to match the window frames of his bright blue building.

For more information on Little Free Libraries, visit www.littlefreelibrary.org, or visit Lena Bartula and La Huipilista Artspace, Julián Carrillo 1, Colonia Guadalupe, San Miguel de Allende, Thursdays through Saturdays, noon to 5:00pm.