{"id":137691,"date":"2026-01-17T12:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/137691\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T12:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:20:10","slug":"how-daniel-melendez-found-community-at-a-mission-bookstore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/137691\/","title":{"rendered":"How Daniel Mel\u00e9ndez found community at a Mission bookstore"},"content":{"rendered":"

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During his shifts at Dog Eared Books<\/a>, Daniel Mel\u00e9ndez moves through the shelves organizing titles, talking with customers, and ordering books for the store\u2019s Spanish literature section. It\u2019s full of must-read novels, some of which haven\u2019t been translated, including \u201cBajar es lo peor\u201d by the Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He enjoys the casual chats and helping to curate the music the store plays throughout the day \u2014 reggae and international groups are favorites.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bookstore \u2014 one of the oldest and most popular in the Mission District \u2014 has become more than just a job to Mel\u00e9ndez: it is where he found a community.<\/p>\n

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He first visited Dog Eared in 2013 \u2014\u00a0 on his first day in San Francisco \u2014 and he returned during subsequent trips from Mexico City to visit a close friend.<\/p>\n

\"StreetDog Eared Books\u2019 entrance on Jan. 12, 2026. Photo by Alice Finno. <\/p>\n

\u00a0When Mel\u00e9ndez ultimately moved from Mexico City to San Francisco in January of 2021, a series of fortuitous encounters led him to a job there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By chance, he met Kate Razo, the owner of Dog Eared Books, at her second store on 24th Street \u2014 Alley Cat Books \u2014 where a Mexican and a Cuban artist had an art show.\u00a0 The owner of Radio Habana had recommended the exhibit, and since he barely knew anyone in the city, he decided to go. At the time, Razo was looking for someone who spoke Spanish to work at Alley Cat Books, and Mel\u00e9ndez took the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been lucky to meet people like Kate,\u201d Mel\u00e9ndez said. \u201cOld-school San Francisco people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, in the fall of 2022, after the bookstore changed ownership, he moved to Dog Eared Books, where he has been for over three years.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeThe inside of Dog Eared Books on Jan. 12, 2026. Photo By Alice Finno.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bookstore has given me a job, friends, community, a girlfriend one time, too,\u201d Mel\u00e9ndez said, adding that he even met someone at the bookstore who became a member of his band.<\/p>\n

Once, he played matchmaker between two people he befriended at the bookstore. \u201cThey\u2019re now married,\u201d he said. \u201cSan Francisco has kept me. Through working at the bookstore, I just made such a tight, and nice, and really close community of friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

The store has been open since 1992, and Mel\u00e9ndez attributes its success to the location, the late closing time of 10 p.m., and its collections of new, used, and rare books.<\/p>\n

Dog Eared Books has inspired Melendez to open his own bookstore. So, he\u2019s considering moving back to Mexico City next fall to create a similar space, with art, music, and events for people to gather.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking it like a community space \u2014 that\u2019s what really works,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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