Wrestling and reading might be an unlikely pair, but Lucha Libro Night in Benicia proved to be one of the library’s more successful events in recent memory, with plans for more in the future.
“We cleared out the whole center of the library, moved all the chairs and tables and everything, and set up this 16-foot square ring right smack in the middle of the library,” said City Librarian Jennifer Baker.
“Lucha Libre” took place on Jan. 10 at Benicia Public Library, with wrestlers from City Fights Pro helping turn the normally quiet space into a wrestling ring where librarians win and all ages are welcome.
Baker says the staff at the library first got the idea to host the event from the California State Library newsletter, which wrote about a library wrestling event in Nevada County.
After talking it over with other staff, Baker connected with City Fights Pro, a pro wrestling organization founded by Vallejo native Gerardo Rocha.
The idea for “Lucha Libro” started out as “Lucha Libre Storytime,” says Rocha.
“The concept was for the wrestlers to go to local libraries, do little meet and greets, read a book, play Lotería, which is Mexican Bingo, with the kids and things like that,” he said, adding that it was Baker and the library staff’s idea to bring in the ring.
Baker said the event drew a crowd of 300-500 people — “easily the biggest program we’ve had in my memory.”
The high attendance was a shock to librarians and wrestling pros alike. “For an event such as this, we did not expect that. I’ll be quite frank, I would have been happy with 50, 20 people,” says Rocha.
The library did a short survey of visitors as they entered the library, which showed 20 percent of visitors were from nearby communities and about 30 percent of visitors had never been to the library before, says Baker.
“We often do these events specifically to try to draw in folks that haven’t been here, either before at all or haven’t been in a long time,” she saids, adding that the library has many resources such as tool and gaming console rentals that people aren’t aware of.
For Rocha, bringing wrestling into the community has been a long-term goal. “I’m from downtown Vallejo and growing up we never had events like this,” he said.
Rocha says he hopes to bring his team of wrestlers to more libraries around the Bay Area.
The event at Benicia Public library, he said, worked like Reading Rainbow. “You’re walking into an interactive Lucha Libre book and it’s being read to you by a Pro Wrestling librarian by the name of Richard Shh-anary,” said Rocha.
Baker says the wrestling librarian, more commonly known as Dick-shhanary, really took care of business: “So then he jumps in the ring and starts throwing people around, and he ended up winning the match with a paper cut, which I loved.”
Transforming the library into a wrestling ring was easier that one might assume thanks to City Fights Pro, said Baker. “They did literally all the heavy lifting,” she joked.
Many of those who missed “Lucha Libro” are already looking forward to the next event, says Baker. “We’re definitely doing it again.”
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