How it all started

We were in Spanish class when one of my ninth grade students asked me "Mrs. P, where can I find books in Spanish around here?"

It was an obvious and direct question. But, even so, I was in awe. Where can we get books in Spanish in Santa Rosa Beach? Apart from the personal repertoire at home and at school, I couldn't give her an answer.

How come we find ourselves in a community where a girl with a passion for reading (one of the few left), cannot access a book without having to buy it on Amazon?

Then I began to understand, is not that bilingual, Spanish-speaking, children don't like to read. It's not that they don't want to read. It's just that they don't have books in their native language, it's that they haven't been taught that books in the mother tongue can change their lives.

I was stunned. And thus our project was born: Leer para crecer (read to grow).

Along with my partner, Olga Galván, we embarked on an adventure of collecting books in Spanish and then giving them away to all students who still wonder: where can I get books in Spanish?

Join us on this adventure, follow us on this journey of love for books.