In December 1998, Marilyn Pennington founded SOPHOS bookshop in Guatemala, which she managed until 2015. Her pragmatic spirit and a training in economics and mathematics for insurance, which she privileged over her interest in journalism, motivated her to manage a florist and cafeteria at the same time, doing accounts at different companies, working for UNICEF Central America and finally administrating a cars and lorry dealer. Aged 51 she decided to take the risk and make her dream come true. A great reader from a young age, she always wanted to find a bookshop in Guatemala City that was open after work and at the weekends. This bookshop would be a place to wander through bookshelves and leaf through pages. Bookshops in those days attended to people from behind a counter, like pharmacies. So she opened SOPHOS, which at first included a café, a crucial part of the bookshop of her dreams. What better company for poring over books and deciding on a purchase than a coffee? So in just four months she became a bookseller, a profession she kept up until 2015 and which she continues to do in semi-retirement. Despite the difficulties, it has allowed her to make a living and do what she loves most: reading. 22 years after its foundation, SOPHOS is one of Guatemala and Central America’s most famous bookshops and it has demonstrated that if people don’t read in our countries, this is due to a difficulty in accessing books, not a lack of interest.
Photo credit: Ana Lucía Galicia