The Littlest Library, a Latina-owned, romance-focused bookstore, opened a bricks-and-mortar store in Independence, Mo., on Small Business Saturday, FOX4KC reported.
Located at 112 N. Liberty St., the Littlest Library sells a wide range of romance titles in both Spanish and English. The bookstore also features an event space where owner America Fontenot plans to host book clubs and private events. When it's not in use for events, the space will offer open seating for customers, and there will be a coffee station available for patrons.
The grand opening festivities ran throughout the weekend, beginning on Saturday with a ribbon cutting, a live DJ, and food and refreshments. Sunday's celebration included a charm crafting bar, a 15% off sale, and a shiba inu owner meet-up. During both days, Fontenot stamped passports for those taking part in the KC Book Crawl.
Fontenot told FOX4KC that her store is the Kansas City area's "first Latina-owned bookstore." Fontenot noted that growing up Latina, "it's been very hard to find representation. I've been an avid reader.... It is very important for me to have reading in my life. I just never really found books that represented who I was. So, finding local authors that offer those readings and just things that I would have enjoyed growing up, I felt like it was really important to share with other people."
The Littlest Library debuted in 2024 as a 10x10 pop-up within Painted Tree Boutiques. The new bricks-and-mortar location resides in the city's Independence Square neighborhood.
"I have always loved the square," said Fontenot. "It has such a charm to it. When you walk through as a kid, you're just so amazed with the theater, with all the small business stores, something that you don't really get from big commercial retail spots."