This Port-au-Prince bookstore makes reading more affordable

At this social bookstore, books of all kinds are offered at affordable prices, ranging from 75 to 150 gourdes

A metal barrier in a recessed wall, at 92 Rue Grégoire in Pétion-Ville, opens onto the premises of Livres Solidaires Haïti.

At this social bookstore, books of all kinds are offered at affordable prices, ranging from 75 to 150 gourdes. This is an opportunity for people with modest incomes, in a city where the acquisition of a good book often requires thousands of gourdes.

Books arranged on a shelf at the social bookstore « Livres Solidaires Haïti » in Pétion-Ville, Saturday, February 24, 2024. | © Jean Feguens Regala/AyiboPost

Wendo Durette, a medical student at the University of the Aristide Foundation, exclaims, « It’s really a godsend! » He has just been to the bookstore to get some documents in his field of study.

A customer purchases several books at « Livres Solidaires Haïti ».

A few feet from Place Saint-Pierre in Pétion-Ville, the social bookstore Livres Solidaires Haïti draws its architectural lines amidst sparse tree trunks, with a breeze of overwhelming serenity.

As soon as you walk through the doorway, the shelves reveal a multitude of varied books, in English and French: novels, documentaries, scientific works, comics, and much more. Their price — reasonable in the context of unemployment in Haiti — arousing the interest of those who love to read and escape.

In a hushed atmosphere, Georgeline Joseph, a student in Education Sciences at the University of Saint François d’Assise in Haiti, was curiously looking for a philosophy book among the shelves.

Around the tables set up in the courtyard of Livres Solidaires Haiti in Pétion-Ville, two customers take the opportunity to discover the books they have chosen.

Since the beginning of 2023, Joseph has been a regular visitor to the bookstore, after a friend told him about the accessibility of books at a lower cost. Since then, a deep relationship has developed between the student and this space.

Smiling, she says, « I was fascinated by the space and the amount of books it contains. I feel incredibly good here. »

These customers spend time immersing themselves in reading the books they have purchased.

In the sales room, a pearly white refrigerator is available for customers to quench their thirst, in addition to the bewitchingly scented coffee offered.

A few steps from the entrance, in the courtyard, about three tables are surrounded by chairs where customers can relax, bathed in the play of shadows sketched by the sun’s rays filtering through the branches that shade the place.

Settled in this peaceful setting, Dorisca Wesly, a student at the Faculty of Ethnology of the State University of Haiti (UEH), recalls the time when, for the first time, he placed an order of 600 books here for an educational institution. An order that cost them less than 75,000 gourdes.

The young man uses the current vagaries of the country to emphasize the importance of the bookstore.

« Through books, this space allows me to get away from the problems of the country, in addition to allowing me to set up my own personal library, » he adds.

A customer discovers CDs in a shelf of « Livres Solidaires Haïti » in Pétion-Ville.

Myrlande Lafortune, a manager at the bookstore, reveals that Livres Solidaires Haïti receives about two to three containers of around 35,000 books per year and, on average, 60,000 books annually.

Founded in 2013, Livres Solidaires Haïti is a social bookstore that offers second-hand books at affordable prices to Haitians. These books are collected abroad through partnerships.

Lafortune, herself a book lover, points out: « Our books are not sold. The amount requested is simply a contribution that we solicit from people, and that helps us to ensure the day-to-day management of the bookstore, in order to maintain our autonomy. »

« Since we started, we have already distributed more than 600,000 books in Haiti, » she says.

Founded in 2013, Livres Solidaires Haïti is a social bookstore that offers second-hand books at affordable prices to Haitians. These books are collected abroad through partnerships.

Established in Haiti three years after the deadly tremors of the January 12, 2010 earthquake, the bookstore was initially presented as an education support project, where the books collected were sold in one-off sales in certain schools and universities throughout the country.

Starting in 2016, managers considered making it easier for customers to access its shelves to buy the books of their choice directly.

Two partners collect books abroad for Livres Solidaires Haiti, according to Myrlande Lafortune. They are the Association Livres Solidaires de Belgique, with which they have a memorandum of understanding and which exclusively supplies them with books, and the Association des ex-parlementaires du Québec, a structure based in Canada.

One of the booksellers of « Livres Solidaires Haïti », in Pétion-Ville.

Faced with those who believe that the culture of reading is in decline in Haiti, Lafortune puts forward a different vision.

« In the COVID-19 period, we sold more than 23,000 books in two days. This proves that, strangely, people read in this country, » she argues, adding that the bookshop had to face temporary lay-offs because it no longer had enough books to sell. « The driveway to the bookstore was crowded with people, » she adds.

According to Béa Darline Legros, receptionist at Livres Solidaires Haiti since 2022, the bookstore serves more than 1,000 institutions across the country, including schools, churches, book clubs, and compassion projects.

« Our goal is to make reading accessible to a wide audience, the dissemination of knowledge on a large scale while at the same time promoting social inclusion, » says Legros.

A customer takes pleasure in reading one of the books discovered at Livres Solidaires Haïti.

While dreaming of becoming a poet and novelist, Marc Sony Ricot, a cultural journalist, discovered an interest in bookselling in 2016, living in Sarthe at the time.

Amazed by the profusion of books and authors, this young man quickly saw this space as « a place of anchorage, of dreams and of passion. »

In the COVID-19 period, we sold more than 23,000 books in two days. Which proves that, strangely, people read in this country.

For Marc Sony Ricot, this social bookstore played « a major role in his career as a cultural journalist in Port-au-Prince. »

The insecurity plaguing the country also seems to be having an impact on the bookstore’s activities, exacerbated by the difficulties in transporting containers from the port of disembarkation to their premises in Port-au-Prince. These difficulties are mainly due to tolls and customs fees, which have almost doubled in recent years.

New customers arrive, euphoric, at the social bookstore Livres Solidaires Haïti, in Pétion-Ville.

Myrlande Lafortune says, « because of the insecurity, our customer base has decreased considerably, which now forces us to organize other activities to attract new customers. »

On Saturday, February 24, 2024, the bookstore set up a massive sale, with special offers in all its categories, including 10 books for 1,000 gourdes in category A, 8 paperback novels for 500 gourdes, 15 magazines for 500 gourdes, among others.

For nearly 10 years, the bookstore Livres Solidaires Haïti has been sharing books.

Around the tables set up in the bookstore’s courtyard, three customers take the opportunity to discover the books they have chosen.

In the voice of Marc Sony Ricot, who credits Victor Hugo with the brilliance of his words, « Whoever you are who wants to cultivate, invigorate, edify, soften, soothe, put books everywhere! »

Livres Solidaires Haiti seems to be admirably responding to this call.

Students visiting to buy books at the social bookstore Livres Solidaires Haïti, in Pétion-Ville.

By Junior Legrand

Cover image : A customer paying for the books she has chosen.

Discover this special episode of AyiboLab about the social bookstore ‘Livres Solidaires Haiti,’ the most affordable in Port-au-Prince: