Cuba Libro: Where Coffee Meets Community
by Conner Gorry
In 2012, a friend dumped a yellow sack at my doorstep, claiming that she didn’t have room in her house for “good, not great, books.” Well, neither did I. But as a writer and a voracious reader, I couldn’t just throw out those “good, not great, books.” So the yellow sack sat in the corner, taunting me, gathering dust and cobwebs.
And then I had an idea: with the new socio-economic policies encouraging small business start-ups, why not create a different kind of space for the Havana community – a Cuban coffee shop and English bookstore where people could read, write, work, make music, and socialize as if in the comfort of their own homes? We could stock it with tons of good (but preferably great) books, plus offer high-quality coffee in a cozy atmosphere where everyone is welcome.
One thing led to another, one challenge led to another – a corruption scandal in Habana Vieja where I’d picked out a rental space halted all new projects; rejections of the business name until I convinced licensing authorities it wasn’t Cuba Libre; a grand opening that got so festive the bathroom door was ripped from its hinges… But thanks to the great people who rented us their garden apartment on a lovely corner in Vedado and helped us fix the door, in August 2013, Cuba Libro finally opened to the public. The mission of Cuba Libro was (and still is) to be a coffeehouse and English-language bookstore that is an ethically and socially responsible cultural center dedicated to building, strengthening, and supporting the Havana community in which it operates.
Once Douglas (founding member of our now-legendary team) and I started serving up cortados and espressos while introducing curious Cubans to Charles Bukowski and visitors to Lezama Lima, I wondered how I’d make it all work. How would I balance my “day job” as a journalist with the demands of this project? I’m still struggling with that balancing act, but even then, as I still do now, I knew that I wanted Cuba Libro to be a hub for connecting people and ideas; a place where community is built and strengthened. To do that, I honed our mission and vision as a socially and ethically responsible business. Where there was a need, we’d try to fill it; where there was a desire, we’d try to satisfy it – for as many people as possible.
We started with the basics: terrific drinks at affordable prices, with no minimum consumption requirements. A safe space with zero tolerance for discrimination: no matter your age, sexual orientation, race, origin, ethnicity, gender identity, or financial possibilities, Cuba Libro would welcome you. Then some friends gave us gay and trans pride flags, and, together with our activism around LGBTQI+ issues with CENESEX, the Norwegian Embassy, Acción Diversa, and others, the buzz started. I remember when Alfredo, now our most veteran team member, was bar hopping and gave our card to some European tourists. “Oh! You work at the gay café!” they said. And Alfredo responded, “it’s not a ‘gay’ café. It’s an ‘everyone’ café.” And it made me proud – that we were recognized as different, that people other than our friends knew of our existence, and that Alfredo, like everyone on our team, doesn’t see race or gender or age or sexual orientation. We just see people, looking for a new and positive experience. And hopefully, we can multiply that experience, together.
And we are different: we don’t sell any alcohol and you can linger over a coffee without being shooed away for the next customer. Pulitzer Prize-contending authors have complimented us on our stellar book collection. Study abroad students appreciate the copacetic work ambiance, phone rechargers, and free water bottle refills. We haven’t raised our prices since we opened and all of our cultural events are free. Your pet is welcome to hang out, too.
Don’t get me wrong: this hasn’t been easy and we’ve faced our fair share of challenges. Accommodating all types of people with all types of tastes so that everyone is comfortable is tricky. As a team, we’re constantly talking about homophobia, gender-inclusive language, and how to be the go-to spot for both Cubans – who favor big groups and a party atmosphere – and foreigners, who may want peace and quiet on their vacation. We’ve got a neighborhood borracho who stumbles in drunk looking for handouts and we also have a small ant problem. But we approach such challenges like everything else: how can we resolve this in the most harmonious way possible?
Interestingly, the bathroom is a hot spot of cross-cultural confusion. I promised my mom when I opened Cuba Libro that we would have the best public baño in town. Let’s face it: when you need one, you need one! And that goes for the dad collecting his daughter at the nearby elementary school and the well-heeled tourist on an all-inclusive private tour. So we take great pains to keep it clean and well-stocked: running water, toilet paper, soap, individual towels, even a toilet seat. Sounds simple, right? But tourists, we learned, don’t necessarily know that you can’t throw toilet paper in the toilet. And Cuban men don’t necessarily know that you have to lift the seat before peeing. Both situations have had us up to our elbows in cleaning products when we’d rather be whipping up your Happy Frappy (a Cuba Libro exclusive created by master barista Yenlis). Our Trump bathroom “art” has pissed off at least one U.S. visitor and we’ve had some embarrassing moments over our bathroom “Shiterature” shelf. “Seven Shades of Grey is your favorite book? It’s yours, free!”
Café art by Jennifer
But by and large our community, local and global, “gets it.” Nowhere is this more evident than in our donation programs. After 18 years of living in Havana and a volunteer stint in the countryside during the Special Period, I have a decent sense for vulnerabilities here. But together with the team and our collaborative relationship with our community, institutions and other social projects, we’ve developed a better understanding of how and what kinds of help we can offer. Based on ethical donation standards, we’ve been supporting different sectors for years. Schools, orphanages, the Cuban Women’s Federation, sports programs, medical clinics, LBTGQI+ Cubans, and more. It’s how we started supporting animal rescue, snapped into action after last year’s tornado and right now during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’ve had to adapt our strategy since closing voluntarily on March 20, but we’re now making home deliveries of prenatal vitamins and alerting our network via WhatsApp when we’re distributing soap, toothbrushes, maxi pads, tampons, and condoms. Unfortunately, our supplies are running low since visitors haven’t been arriving after Cuba halted all but humanitarian flights out of the country in late March, but thanks to EEAbroad and their clients and program participants, we were able to put together one last, large donation of surgical gloves, hygiene products, soap, vitamins, and other sorely-needed materials for a neighborhood family doctor-nurse office. And with generous donations, we’ve been able to maintain minimum salaries for the Cuba Libro Team and keep their phones activated so that they can stay connected throughout this pandemic.
None of this would be possible without the support from people around the corner and around the globe. We’ve struck a chord and harnessed people’s urge to create something positive. Every person who has played their guitar, read their poetry, swung in a hammock, helped us garden, fixed our plumbing, scoured Havana for milk, taken Toby for a walk, taken home a book or started writing one, made a donation, made some art or made us smile over the past, not-always-easy seven years, contributes to that.
People often say that we’re “much more than a bookstore” and the credit for that goes entirely to the Cuba Libro Team – past and present. When people talk about Cuba Libro, they talk about Alfredo, Yenlis, Charlie, Gaby, Jennifer, and Dianelys. The harmony, fun, and familial feel of our little oasis are nurtured by them. They are bringing it, every single day. Hopefully, we’ll all be able to bring it again very soon. Until then: stay well, read great books, and drink good coffee!