After a couple of reincarnations and a recent move across the Hudson, Spanish-language book distributor and publisher Lectorum Publications turned 50 this month. Originally an independent bookstore on Manhattan's Union Square—and up until last year a subsidiary of Scholastic—Lectorum distributes over 25,000 Spanish-language titles to schools, libraries, and retailers. This past December, Lectorum was acquired by entrepreneur Alex Correa and his brother and partner, Luis Fernando, and is now based in Lyndhurst, N.J.
"I'm really excited to be a part of Lectorum now that we're celebrating 50 years," says Alex Correa, who was director of Grupo Editorial Norma's Spanish book division in the U.S. in the early 1990s and most recently developed real estate projects in Colombia and Ecuador. "I see exciting changes in the book industry and I can only promise we'll be on the lookout [for what] customers want so we can offer them the best selections." In response to the growing Hispanic population, Correa says Lectorum has expanded its network of sales reps and has a new publishing catalogue highlighting adult titles. "The core business was children's books," Correa, who is executive vice president, says. "We want to make the adult titles a larger offering to our customers." In the new catalogue, approximately 60% of the titles are adult and 40% children.
Lectorum started off as a bookstore— Librería Lectorum—on Manhattan's 14th Street. "The store catered to the general public and to university students in the tristate area," says president and editorial director Teresa Mlawer. Her husband and Lectorum v-p of operations, William, bought the store in 1971. Five years later, Teresa—who started her publishing career at Macmillan and later moved to Simon & Schuster—founded the distribution arm of the company, serving schools, public libraries, universities, and, eventually, the trade. She is still widely considered a pioneer in the U.S. Spanish-language books market.
In 1988, a publishing program was launched, which focused on children's books, most of which Teresa Mlawer translated. "I translated them because... the schools were calling to ask, ‘Do you have Green Eggs and Ham in Spanish? Do you have Sylvester and the Magic Pebble in Spanish?' " she recalls. Lectorum is still pub-lishing about 10 children's titles annually.
When children's publisher Scholastic acquired Lectorum Publications in 1996, the Mlawers remained at the helm. "We were part of Scholastic for almost 14 years. I was very happy with Scholastic, [they were] very good to Lectorum. It opened many doors that were not available for a small, independent company at the time," says Mlawer. Scholastic's ownership did attract controversy when it closed Librería Lectorum, which had served as a center for Latino culture, in 2007. In response to the community's protests, Scholastic launched librerialectorum.com, which is now being operated as part of the new company.
Mlawer is optimistic about becoming an independent company again. "I can tell you with certainty," she says, "that Lectorum is the only nationwide distributor that is a Latino company catering to the Latino market." According to Mlawer, the entire staff of 20+ people is fully bilingual, and many of them have been working at Lectorum for 25 years or more. "I am very excited that Alex bought the business because being in the hands of Latinos, we can do [more] things to work with our community."
Correa is confident his experience in the industry combined with demographic changes are optimal for business growth. "We find that they [Hispanics] want to keep their culture, their language, and we are a venue to provide literature and culture for the Hispanic population.... We're aware of our strengths. Any marketing plans we're working on for the next couple of years [have to be] very smart and focused... but definitely we're going to be very aggressive. Our goal is to reach every single Hispanic." The company has not decided on an e-book strategy, but is studying different options, and while Correa won't say if there are any concrete plans to open up a bookstore again, he says he and Mlawer have discussed it: "We are leaving the doors open."
The recession and the acquisition slowed sales last year, but Mlawer says business is beginning to turn around. "I have been in publishing for 45 years," she says. "My years with Lectorum have been the most rewarding years of my professional life.... We're now independent again," she exclaims, "and I'm delighted."
