Palabras Bilingual Bookstore is believed to be Phoenix’s only store featuring books in English and Spanish. But the store’s founder wants to be known for more than selling books.
How It Began
The idea for Palabras, which is Spanish for words, came after Magaña visited Libreri?a Donceles, a traveling Spanish bookstore created by artist Pablo Helguera. She wondered why Phoenix didn’t have a bilingual bookstore and decided to open one. In the nation’s fifth largest city, she started with five books. “There would be days that I would just walk up to the space, and I would see boxes of books that were donations and little by little, I started getting more books,” she said.
The original space on Grand Avenue in Phoenix lacked air conditioning and in 2017, Magaña moved to her current location at 1738 E. McDowell Road. Magaña estimates 30 percent of the store’s 20,000 titles have been donated, the others she has personally bought.
By Cristina Estes
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