Members of the Little Free Library in the Reforma neighborhood have added new titles thanks to donations from the Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE), which recently closed its San Diego branch.

Katia Padilla Bautista, along with other nonprofit organizations from Mexico, traveled to San Diego to collect the books left in the former FCE parking lot, rescuing them before weather conditions could cause damage.

She explained that on August 20, the small library will celebrate its fifth anniversary. Located in front of the Navy base in Reforma, the community has respected the space, and even the marines keep watch over it.

The rescued books are now available to the public. Access is simple: anyone can stop by, take a book, and if they wish, leave one behind for others to enjoy.

Padilla, together with her father, aunt, and other volunteers, takes care of cleaning, restocking, and decorating the library. She also makes regular posts on Facebook to keep the community engaged. Her inspiration came from the U.S.-based organization Little Free Library, which has over 100,000 members worldwide. While there are about 80,000 in the United States, Mexico has only around 30.

“I’m 53 and have a 14-year-old daughter. She reads a lot—sometimes up to six books a week—and buying that many books gets expensive. That’s when I thought of exchanging books with neighbors, school friends, and the community. Discovering the Little Free Library organization in the U.S. felt like a dream come true, so I brought the idea to Rosarito to inspire a love of reading and sharing here as well,” she said.

The library itself was a community effort. Neighbors helped build it, with Robert, an American resident of Rosarito, donating materials, while local painter Rocki Rubén Gómez decorated it to resemble a Mexican Navy ship, in honor of the nearby base.