Library Tour: San Ysidro Public Library
Our second stop of our tour leads us close to Tijuana, Mexico!
Today’s library tour we’re going as far south as we can before we hit Mexico, this is the San Ysidro Public Library which is the closest library to the USA-Mexico border in the state of California. This library opened it’s doors on September 7th, 2019 and offers one of the largest selection of Spanish books available among the San Diego Public Library system. Let’s explore what this multicultural library has in store for us!
One of the first things that stood out to me was how colorful the library is on the outside. From the bold colors often seen in Mexican art to the beautiful array of desert plants that are very well maintained. This library is a beautiful representation of the predominantly Mexican community that it serves. This is a 15,000-square-foot facility making it more than three times the size of the original San Ysidro Library. This library features a large children’s area, an enclosed teen’s area with study rooms, a computer lab, private rooms for studies or meetings, a maker space with a 3D printer, and an outdoor area equipped with a movie screen.
When you walk inside the library you’re greeted by these large steel doors and beautiful archway. To find the manga we just have to keep walking straight to the lime green wall you can see in the distance. The lime green wall is where the library’s teen quarter is located and where you can find their manga collection.
Although the manga selection at the San Ysidro Public Library was smaller in comparison to the San Diego Central Library from our first tour stop, I found that it was curated really well. Below the TV inside the teen’s quarter were a selection of newer manga titles including some of my favorite series like Tamon’s B-Side, Sakura, Saku, and Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! I was so surprised by the number of new shoujo titles they had available for young teens to read. They also did have some new shounen series, western graphic novels, and even a copy of Spanish manga magazine Planeta Comic!
The rest of their collection has a little bit of everything from Black Butler, Tokyo Revengers, and Blue Lock. For shoujo fans you could find your classic series like Fruits Basket and Ouran High School Host Club, but I also find quite a few out of print titles like Beauty is the Beast and Pink Innocent. I ended up picking up Beauty is the Beast Volume 1 to read at the library and then ended up taking Volumes 2 and 3 home with me to read, I’ll be posting a review on the early 00’s series soon!
I was also able to find a few LGBT titles among their selection such as the yuri drama Goodbye, my Rose Garden and the BL series Classmates and I’m Kinda Chubby and I’m Your Hero. If you’re looking to read manga in Spanish, this library also carries some titles in Spanish from Mexican publishers Panini México and Spanish publisher Kitsune Manga.
I really enjoyed my trip to this library and would highly recommend checking out this location especially for my Hispanic followers that are looking for a wider array of books in Spanish.
4235 Beyer Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92173
You can follow my library tour on YouTube and TikTok!