Mexico’s Culture Ministry Announces Mass Book Purchase for the National Library Network
This article by Alonso Urrutia originally appeared in the September 18, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left-wing daily newspaper.
Irapuato, Guanajuato. After reaffirming the importance of the sales-tax exemption for bookstores (a zero VAT rate), which is included in the 2027 economic package, with an annual benefit of 200 million pesos for the sector, the Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, announced that on Monday they will launch a call for the mass purchase of books for the national library network, for an amount of 50 million pesos.
Mexican, independent and mid-sized publishers will of course be able to participate, and this will also nourish this network of libraries for the benefit of the reader.
Claudia Curiel de Icaza, Secretary of Culture
She maintained that the zero rate is fundamental to strengthening the ecosystem of the book and of readers. “Publishers had support from this rate more than twenty-odd years ago, but there was no support for distribution, and that generated a significant asymmetry.” So, the zero rate “would help them deduct operating expenses, the bookstore networks are going to be strengthened, and it implies an annual benefit of around 200 million pesos for this sector.”
She stressed that the initiative arises after more than 20 years of demand. “It is an initiative on the part of the Chamber of the Mexican Publishing Industry, Paco Ignacio Taibo, the Brigada para Leer en Libertad, and it is a very important demand.”
At the mañanera, she noted that the two actions are important because they strengthen distribution, bookstores—also considered cultural infrastructure—and national publishers.
She noted that, in collaboration between the Secretariat of Culture and the Fondo de Cultura Económica, there are 26,000 reading clubs and reading rooms, with the goal of reaching around 250,000 participants by the end of the year. She recalled that the Cervantino Festival will take place from October 3 to 18, with more than 200 activities in Celaya and León, Guanajuato.
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