ArboLibro: A Community Book-Share Project

Our Mission

ArboLibro’s mission is for children and adults to take books home, read, and enjoy them for free.

Our History

ArboLibro was born in August of 2016 thanks to my kids and their love of reading.

Working and going to school full-time only allowed once a week trips to the local library. One day, I thought of the idea of starting a book-share project in my Little Village neighborhood in Chicago, IL. Now our kids can grab a book right down the street instead of waiting for me to take them to the library.

Our Motivation

Families from low-income communities struggle with literacy for several reasons. Limited education, a need to work multiple jobs, and little knowledge or access to resources. ArboLibro empowers and educates the community by offering free literature for all ages.

In the United States, book-sharing has been promoted as a valuable activity that parents and children can do together to enhance literacy skills. Reading with your child has many positive benefits and is the key to your child’s academic future.

It benefits children’s neurological, educational, psychological, social and linguistic future. Arbolibro offers a wide range of books from all ages in both English and Spanish. This project will bring an alternative to the community bringing them together.

ArboLibro Locations

We currently have 4 locations in the neighborhoods ofLittle Village and Pilsen. ArboLibro strives to build in neighborhoods which are historically low-income. We are looking forward to expanding to neighborhoods throughout Chicago in the near future.

In the News

ArboLibro has received community attention from Lawndale News and Vocalo 91.1 FM, a segment called Rayuela FM which focuses on literature.

The interview starts at the 21:15 mark.

Contact Us

Please support the ArboLibro project by recommending where where we should build our next ArboLibro.

For immediate feedback, please email the founder of ArborLibro, Gonzalo Rizo, at gonzalorizo@hotmail.com. This page was last updated on April 12, 2017.

Website Design

This website was designed by Cristian E. Nuno. To view more of his work, see his GitHub page and his LinkedIn page. You may email him at nuno.e.cristian@gmail.com.