About Us

Linda Russo and Carlos Castellanos founded the Latin American Book Store in Ithaca, NY, in 1982 and have, ever since, serviced academic libraries with a strong interest in building and maintaining Latin American studies collections. Their years of experience scouting Latin American print materials, participation in organizations such as SALALM and relationship with academic and cultural institutions in the United States and abroad has made them experts in acquiring materials to supply institutions through approval plans and carefully crafted catalogs.

In 2015, the Latin American Book Store moved to sunny southern California and leadership was transferred to Alfonso Vijil. Alfonso is himself a veteran book-person, known as a purveyor of rare and out-of-print Latin American materials through Libros Latinos (member of the Antiquarian Bookseller's Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers). Alfonso is also a member of SALALM and has represented Libros Latinos at LASA events—in addition to being a regular at book fairs all across the Americas.

Together, Linda, Carlos and Alfonso bring decades of combined experience in providing direct access to materials from important publishing centers throughout Latin America, Spain and the Caribbean. This hands-on approach gives access to emerging trends, authors and smaller presses where some of the most interesting humanities and social sciences research takes place. Years in the trade have also fostered relationships with a network of reliable publishers and distributors who help secure books for our clients.

We look forward to helping service your book needs for Latin America, Spain and the Caribbean!