Underground Books is a new book co-operative housed in the basement of Ruta Maya Riverwalk.  Underground Books was established out of the need to provide access to books—and everything they offer—to our communities in San Antonio.  Specifically our target areas are the West, South and East Side communities that have lacked access to books for generations.

Our goal is to provide a progressive alternative to the market-determined access of books.  Underground Books will be the only community owned bookstore in San Antonio.  We will belong to the community, not only through the usual co-op investment process, but also through events and activities that can bring the community together.

Underground Books’ premise is that literacy is a community’s bridge to knowledge and information, providing a social tool by which a community connects, survives and grows. Their purpose is to provide a place where the San Antonio community can teach and learn from each other through books and discussion.

In addition to children’s reading hours, discussion groups, book presentations, and community events and activities, one of the most exciting processes we envision will be connecting those who can’t read to those who can, through our historical tradition of reading to each other. So the Underground Books concept is more than simply a book store.  The books are the tools we’ll use to establish practices that will enhance literacy in its various forms. We believe that a community that is literate can develop its own choices in a more self determinate manner.  It is not the answer to all our problems in this world, but it is the arming of a community.