S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on this episode of KPBS Midday Edition. The co-owner of Libra , Lula Books , Jesse Gutierrez , joins us in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month to talk about the bookstore and the community they've built with it. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. In the heart of Barrio Logan , a triangle building sits at the intersection of 26 National Ave and Sicard Street. Inside , you'll find floor to ceiling shelves overflowing with books and a bustling community of book loving customers. Leva Lula Books is celebrating five years as a staple of San Diego's independent bookstore scene. Co-owners Jesse Gutierrez and Cecil Hernandez have established the shop as a true community space , and the bookstore welcomes customers of all identities through workshops , art shows , dance parties and much more. We're sitting down with co-owner Jesse Gutierrez. As part of our Hispanic Heritage Month series highlighting community voices. Jesse , I'm excited to have you here with us. Welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Thanks , Jade. Thanks so much. It's great to be back.
S1: And I got to restate your code. The co-owners name , it's it's Sally. So sorry about that.
S2: Just short for Sally. All good. Yeah , we hear it all. There we go. Hey.
S1: Hey. Well , you know , happy Hispanic Heritage month , and thanks again for being here. Uh , question for you. Looking back on your early childhood , how did you develop your love for books and reading? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Um , books played a huge role in my childhood. I come from a family of readers. My mother is a , uh , untrained and unprofessionally , um , educated Writer and reader. She was always talking about stories. She's a storyteller at heart , and she really instilled that in my sisters and I. To value our stories and make sure that we share them with others and to have fun with them. She always had us at the library , which we absolutely adored. Um , not only was it a space for resources , but we could kind of get lost in the shelves and I just have the best memories of that.
S1: And your love for literature led you to become a teacher in southeast San Diego , is that right? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Some of my best years were spent in the classroom. My students were part of just this incredible period in my life where I spent about nine and a half years in the classroom , a different educational spaces all throughout San Diego , but specifically in southeast San Diego. Title one schools. Um , I taught art integration with literacy and just had an absolute blast.
S1: And tell me. I mean , why is this intersection of art and literature so meaningful to you? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Well , I think , um , you know , especially during Hispanic Heritage Month , we're talking about our cultures and our community and our histories. Um , that's a big part of the Latino community. We are storytelling is in our blood , right? It's something that has helped our culture and communities stay alive for so long. So not only is that a reason why it's so important to me , but we're also just always artists through dance , through music , uh , through visual art. Um , and so both of those things just came really natural to me. But what didn't come so natural or with ease , I should say , is reading. I really struggled as a kiddo to read. Um , I'm a dyslexic reader , so all that means is I just read in a different way. I read in a format that requires or sometimes asked me to organize information a little bit differently. And once I figured out a formula that included color and shape and sometimes some fun rearranging of things on the page , I was really able to access stories on the page , and it just felt so good. And after I had that experience as a young person , specifically with educators , that took the time and energy to help me figure out ways to creatively , you know , attack the challenge I was having with being able to read , especially chapter books. I was like , oh , this is amazing. I want to make sure that I am part of this journey for others , if they're having the same issues or different issues , because I really do believe that storytelling is for everyone.
S1: And I'm sure that experience informs maybe the resources and programs that you , you know , provide for for kids maybe. Absolutely.
S2: Absolutely. Yeah. For our kiddos and also anybody in the community. Um , I one of my favorite things that I love about the bookstore is I really open up those doors , and I just have no idea who's going to walk through them. Um , and so even though we have specific days and times that we have programming in the space , like tutoring or workshops or author readings or author conversations , book clubs , those are beautiful and abundant. And also just on the daily , we get to have moments where folks come in and say , hey , I haven't picked up reading in quite some time because of X , Y , and Z , and I always just share with people how I view my relationship with literacy , which is it's seasonal , it's natural. It takes , you know , peaks and valleys. There's times where I'm reading 3 or 4 books at a time , and there's other times that I'm only , you know , reading a comic strip here or there. Um , and so , yeah , the programming is really just built into the fabric of every day. Um , and I really do believe that every neighborhood and community deserves to have kind of that foundation to kind of organically create programming daily.
S1: I mean , you know , thinking back to when you were a kid in reading , what resources or programs do you wish you had to better access and engage with literature? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Um , I can't emphasize enough. The library was such a resource when I was a kid. We moved a lot , uh , growing up , and so there were a lot of difficulties with that. But I do recall loving that I get to I would have the opportunity to discover a new library , um , and see what they had to offer. Um , obviously , in right now , our libraries are taking a big hit as far as their budget so that those are really impacts what they can and cannot provide for the community , and they're just so important and so dire. Um , because I have fond memories of art classes again at the library being available to me , and because of that , I was that really helped me be able to sit down , kind of set out to make something and follow through with it. That was super helpful for me. Once I started to struggle to read , I'll be like , okay , I'm going to sit down , try and accomplish this. And um , and eventually it got there. But I definitely wish that when I was growing up , there were more mentorship programs. Um , I'm a first generation college student , and I definitely had a lot of difficulty trying to navigate that road. Um , as a first gen and as a Bipoc queer person. Um , so just having some type of mentorship would have really , I think supported that me in that journey. But we got through it and there were a lot of folks along the way that helped me. A lot of my professors from City College , um , were just so impactful in my life during that time. Um , but I think intervention at even a year earlier age might have been great. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , you know , it's this all of this has led you to open books , which you opened five years ago alongside your partner , Sally Hernandez. What was your original vision for the space and how has it evolved?
S2: Yeah , it's crazy when you say five years. Um , we just set out to do , you know , something really simple , um , curate and co-create a third space for community , something that was centralized around connection in a time where we were so incredibly thirsty for connection. As 2021 , we hosted a lot of our events while we were still social distancing , definitely all masking , and we hosted a lot of them outside just so that we could come together. And yet , even though we had all those other , you know , limitations put in place , folks came out and just wanted to be near one another. And that was really important as part of the foundation of this space. Um , yeah , I , I was just I'm just a , a reader , a nerd who wanted to be able to talk to other readers and nerds. And I wanted , um , our kiddos in the neighborhood to see someone that looked like them and who was reading really set out to deconstruct and rewrite kind of what what kinds of people belong , quote unquote , belong in a bookstore or who bookstores are for , or what are the types of people that go to bookstores? For all of us , it's a third space for for everyone from any walk of life where , wherever they're at in their literacy journey. I've met a lot of adults that have picked up reading in our space that really struggled. Uh , again , any other any age that they're at. And that's really what we set out to do. We wanted to have a community space that celebrated and embraced our identities as Bipoc , queer community , and as nerds , and make sure that we , our kiddos knew that and our adults that books are for everyone. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And it's not not just about who's in the bookstore , but also who's in the books , whose stories are told and shaped. So being an LGBTQ plus Bipoc owned business , how do the values of identity and inclusivity influence how you stock your shelves? Absolutely.
S2: Absolutely. Uh , it's the first and foremost. It's what we consider from the jump. We are looking for representation to be present in every single book that reflects the community that we're serving , and that is forever evolving. It's a constant growth because community comes in and tells us what they need , and and we try very diligently to listen. Um , it's really important to us that we are serving our community. We are shepherds of a space. We we don't own anything. We just are trying to serve. And , um , people feel it when they feel seen , when they look at the shelves and they're reflected back at them. Um , again , when I was a kiddo , I didn't see a lot of that. I remember taking English classes in high school and being like , this is cool , and I love it , but I something didn't quite the key , didn't fit all the way in the lock. Um , and so when I was able to access Bipoc literature and creative writers that were queer. It was like something was ignited within me , and we just want to make sure that people have access to that outside of institutions. So accessibility is super big part of our our ethos and what we try to do , and especially right now where there's so much erasure continuing to happen , we see an uptick of trying to erase cultures and pull peoples through , through violence and harm and genocide. It's even more important that we tell our stories , and that we make sure that the people who are telling the stories , they make it to our shelves. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. That's great. And you said it's a third space. And I want to talk more about that because the shop's impact goes beyond the books inside. I mean , it's really a community hub , as you described , with all kinds of events , from author readings to die workshops and live DJ sets. So why is it important to you to establish the bookstore as a third space in that way?
S2: Yeah , I mean , besides the numbers , we know that connection fundamentally impacts the health and the wellbeing of the community. Um , we know that when people have access to information , we're safer. Um , we know that when we have access to connection to our neighbors , that we take care of one another better. We will participate in collective care more often. Um , and those are just a few of the reasons why it's so important that we put time and energy and resource into creating a third space. And if the need is so great , we cannot keep up with all of the emails and the calls that we get. And but we don't want them to stop. We're so grateful for them. But it just is a reminder daily that we really need these spaces because we really do need and want to be taken care of by one another. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. I mean , I'm just curious , where do you go when you're reading? Where does a good book take you mentally? Mhm.
S2: Mhm. You know , I just started jumping back into fiction. My fiction reading was in a deep hibernation period. Um , and I have just been truly enjoying getting swept up into another world , learning about other characters. I mostly read social justice driven text , um , memoirs , a lot of non-fiction for a long time. And I'm really grateful for those , because there are a lot of stories in that , too. But there's something to be said about the fantastical ness of of a good fiction book that just creates another world. Um , I really love sci fi , so I'm down to always be in outer space , just kind of seeing what that environment is like. But it really just takes me to a quiet place where kind of everything else can quietly fade , and I can just be immersed in whatever the author chooses , whatever adventure the author is choosing to take me on. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. And what has running this bookstore taught you about yourself in your own story?
S2: Oh , that's such a cool question. Um , because I tell people all the time that the bookstore , she's a living , breathing thing , and she teaches me something every year , and she also gives me something every day. Um , I often people will come up to us until. Thank you so much. We need this store. We needed this store. I need this store. My kiddos , my queer kiddos need this store. And I have the experience. So often when I open the doors and I'm like , I need this Space , and I'm so grateful. Um , so it's just really taught me a lot about , yes , caring for others , but to care for myself and to check in with myself when I need to be held , when I need to be , um , checked in with for , you know , do I need some alone time reading in a book? Reading a book under a tree? Um , do I need to reach out to somebody? Because I would love some some care right now or a connection with a friend. Um , so it's taught me a lot. I get to witness people connecting with others , too. They. They'll meet up here. Um , they're like , hey , friend , I know life's been busy and I haven't gotten a chance to see you , but it's so good to connect. Um , so that witnessing that I'm allowed. It's such a special experience. Um. And I feel so fortunate to have. It has just taught me so many things that I'm very grateful for it. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. What a great space you all have created. That is wonderful. I've been speaking with Jesse Gutierrez , co-owner of Lula Books , an independent bookstore in Barrio Logan. Jesse , thank you so much for being here. And again , happy Hispanic Heritage Month.
S2: Thank you so much , Jade. Appreciate you all.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
