Welcome to Broadway Stages’ Spotlight, where we feature local shops, restaurants, organizations, individuals, and venues. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we proudly feature some of New York City’s Latinx All-Stars. This week, we are featuring a bilingual bookstore and community center that curates to celebrate Black, Latinx, and Indigenous heritage - Mil Mundos Books in Bushwick!

In the Fall of 2018,  Mil Mundos Books opened their doors at 323 Linden Street in Bushwick.  Since the beginning, the owners have worked to ensure that the Hispanic community, that makes up about 67% of the population, continues to be represented and celebrated. 

For the last 40 years, Spanish has been the dominant language spoken in Bushwick. A reflection of the neighborhood, Mil Mundos is currently the only bookstore in Bushwick east of Myrtle Ave, with titles on the shelves available side-by-side in English and Spanish. 

But Mil Mundos is more than a bookstore.  It is also a space where Black, Latinx, and Indigenous heritage can be celebrated and empowered through literature, workshops, language classes, clothing swaps, and general celebrations of culture — la raza! You can follow the active listing of events on both Instagram and Twitter.

Best of all, their nonprofit division Mil Mundos en Común, works in partnership with Bushwick Ayuda Mutua. They work to bring essential goods, internet installs on the NYC Mesh network, and greater access to literature to the community of Bushwick. Accessibility for those already present in their community is a priority for Mil Mundos, regardless of means.

Mil Mundos founder María Herron, looks to bring a thousand worlds’ worth of ideas and stories to her hometown of Bushwick. Herron said, “Most residents have not had a space to inhabit where they can interact with books outside of a Brooklyn Public Library branch, some for their whole lives so far.” She aims to welcome field trips to the list of activities at Mil Mundos. “Those kids need to be brought into a bookstore and told it’s OK,” she says.

Join us as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, community and the gift or books!  If you don’t have time to stop by the shop, take a look at their website and place your order online to have your books or swag shipped to you anywhere in the US or PR. Thank you Mil Mundos for bringing pride in la raza through literature.