By Bridgette Estrada, September 1, 2026
Latino authors, Spanglish book titles, papel picado and Latino dichos resaltados cover the shelves, walls and ceiling of Café con Libros a bookstore in downtown Pomona created with cultural identity in mind.
Café con Libros started as a dream for Adelaida Bautista and Patricia DeRobles 20 years ago. The two first-generation college graduates and immigrant advocates envisioned a place where they could showcase and cultivate Latino representation, literature, culture and community.
Beyond books and coffee the bookstore hosts community events throughout the month, such as Cuentitos, which includes crafts for kids and Open Mic Nights, where people are welcome to share poems, songs, play an instrument or tell a story. Live music nights are also hosted, along with other cultural events for the community. The most current calendar information is usually posted on Instagram.
According to 2025 U.S. Census Bureau data, 71.8% of Pomona’s population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, while about 54% of Cal Poly Pomona students identify as Hispanic/Latino, according to the university’s fall 2024 student population data. For a community with such a large Latino population, Álvaro Huerta, an urban and regional planning and ethnic and women’s studies professor, said spaces centered on cultural representation like Café con Libros offer a sense of identity and belonging.
“This space is very important to Latinos in Pomona and beyond,” Huerta said. “The current administration and its cruel agencies have targeted anyone who looks ‘Latinos,’ speaks Spanish and has a Spanish surname. This is not the first time we’ve been targeted. In the past, recent administrations have deported millions of undocumented immigrants without criminal records. In the case of people of Mexican origin, in the early 1900s, our people were deported at a mass scale. This was also the case in the mid-1900s.”
Criminology student Gabriela Ramirez, who works at the Women’s Resource Center, said she finds Bautista and DeRobles’ reason for creating the bookstore compelling, despite not having visited Café con Libros.
“This place is basically a very safe place for people to talk about their own experiences and just get to socialize and find your community,” Ramirez said. “I feel like if more people here knew about it, they would definitely go because it’s just like, now you’re in someone’s dream.”
Murals and artwork depicting Latino culture are displayed on buildings and businesses throughout downtown Pomona, including Café con Libros.
Sarah E. Abney, a second-generation American whose mother immigrated to the United States from Jamaica, was visiting Pomona from Arizona. She said culturally centered spaces like Café con Libros and Mi Cafecito remind her of her own experiences growing up and navigating life alongside an immigrant parent.
“You have to navigate a system alongside your parents and you’re living the immigrant experience too, because you’re immigrating into a culture that your parents don’t even know,” Abney said.
Abney said that, as a child, she was pushed to assimilate out of fear of being singled out. But she is glad the next generation has culturally centered spaces like Café con Libros, where embracing one’s identity is encouraged. Abney said she has embraced her identity as half Jamaican and half white rather than assimilating to fit into what she described as the majority – a diluted version of herself.
