| Books, newspapers, magazines and other printed materials
in English are available at most leading bookstores, in souvenir
shops of larger hotels, and at some newsstands.
Many bookstores carry a large selection of books in English.
7th Street Books, in downtown San José,
is one of the city's best bookstores (Calle 7, between Ave.
1 and Central, Tel: 256-8251, email: marroca@sol.racsa.co.cr).
The North American owners, John and Mark, stock a wide range
of new and used books in English with an excellent selection
of travel, Spanish, nature books and U.S. magazines. They
will even special order books for you.
Local Bookstore
Librería Internacional is a European-style
bookstore. This bookstore is not global in name only since
it sells books in English, Spanish and German. Locations:
Barrio Dent, San Pedro, 300 meters west of Taco Bell, 253-9553;
Centro Comercial Multiplaza, second floor, 201-8320; Rohrmoser
200 meters east of El Fogoncito restaurant. 290-3331; Mall
Internacional, Alajuela, 442-3800; Plaza Cemaco, second floor,
100 meters north of Garantías Sociales traffic circle,
257-8065; Central Ave., 75 meters west of la Plaza de la Cultura
257-2563; Paseo de las Flores Mall, Heredia.
LibroMax is a discount bookstore chain offering
up to 50 percent off on some titles. Locations: second floor
Real Cariari Mall; Heredia, across from the parking lot of
Ferretería Las 3 Américas; Cartago, across from
the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica; Multiplaza Escazú
first floor across from Banco Nacional de Costa Rica; Outlet
Mall diagonal to the church of San Pedro; Mall San Pedro,
main floor; telephone for all stores: 800 LIBROMAX (800-542-7662).
You can also find a good selection of English books in the
book section of any of the three Librería Universal
department stores (Ave. Central, 222-2222) and Librería
Lehmann (Ave. Central, Calles 1 and 3, 223-1212).
Papyrus (next to Más x Menos supermarket
in Sabana Este, 221-4664) has an excellent selection of magazines,
newspapers and paperbacks in English and Spanish. They have
another branch in downtown San José.
Mora Books (255-4136, 383-8385) is located
in downtown San José in the Omni Building on Avenida
1, between Calles 3 and 5. They have more than 25,000 volumes
on display and specialize in used books. Goodlight
Books (430-4083) in downtown Alajuela offers used
books in English.
Some ex-pats order books on line though http:www.amazon.com
and have one of the local private mail services, such as Aerocasillas
bring them to Costa Rica. Here is what one expatriate said
about importing books this way: I buy from Amazon, and Aerocasillas
would take care of getting it through Customs. If there are
any duties to be paid, they ask you to deposit it into their
bank account or bring it by their offices prior to them getting
it released from Customs. They also will deliver the merchandise
to your door. Of course they charge a fee, but I thought it
was worth it because once it gets to the address in Miami,
it's couriered here to Costa Rica.
Major libraries in the San José area have large collections
of English language books and magazines. The place to go for
the best selection of books is the Mark Twain Library
at the Costa Rican North American Culture Center,
commonly known as the Centro Cultural. You can browse
all day or check out books. They also have nearly 100 English
magazines from which to choose. Call 253-5783 for more information.
The National Library, in downtown San José,
is not a browsing library but has a large selection of novels
and magazines in English. You have to use the card catalog
to select your book and then request it at the front desk.
Also, the University of Costa Rica Library
has some materials in English.
There are 55 public libraries in the country. The vast majority
of their publications are Spanish language books. Library
hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. In the San José area
public libraries can be found in the cities of Desamparados
(250-0426), Hatillo (254-1028), Montes de Oca (272-0809),
Ciudad Colón (249-3516), Santa Ana (282-9106), Puriscal
(416-8300) and Tibás (236-3087).
There is no problem obtaining copies of New York Times,
Time or Newsweek in Costa Rica. The Miami
Herald international satellite edition is now also available
in Costa Rica. You can pick up most of these English-language
publications at local newsstands, hotels and some bookstores.
Other publications available are Barron's, International
Herald Tribune, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated,
USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Washington
Post. Obviously you can find almost any publication on
line.
Europrensa, S.A. (232-6682), is now offering
320 digitally produced print-on-demand newspapers from 57
countries.
Originally founded in 1992, Costa Rica Today is
Central America's largest bilingual newspaper (English/Spanish)
with more than 100,000 readers. The paper has good information
about tourism, retirement and business tips. It is distributed
in all of the Central American countries, airports, embassies
and consulates abroad and is free. For additional information
or to advertise, contact: Costa Rica Today, SJO -117,
P.O. Box 0025216, Miami, FL 33102 Tel: 520-0303 Fax: 520-1234,
Email: editor@costaricatoday.net.
The Tico Times, the largest English-language newspaper
published in Central America, is available almost everywhere
in Costa Rica. Reading it is an excellent way to keep up with
local Costa Rican and Central American news in general. Car
sales, cultural activities and other useful information can
also be found in this newspaper. The newspaper costs $1 and
comes out every Friday.
To subscribe to The Tico Times (if you live in the
United States), write Dept. 717, P.O. Box 025216, Miami, FL
33102, or e-mail info@ ticotimes.net. If you live in Costa
Rica: Apdo. 4362, San José, Costa Rica, Tel: 258-1558.
You can read this newspaper on line at: http://www. ticotimes.net.
The Guanacaste Journal is a new weekly newspaper with
news from the Gold Coast area of Guanacaste.
Inside Costa Rica is another good online publication.
It is published daily and has both local and international
news articles. Inside Costa Rica may be accessed at:
http://www.insidecostarica.com.
A.M. Costa Rica is an online newspaper published Monday
through Friday. In additional to the usual daily news events
and features, there is an excellent classified ads section.
You may access this online newspaper at www.amcostarica.com.
For additional information contact A.M. Costa Rica, Apdo.
6318-1000, San José, Costa Rica, Tel/Fax: 2317528,
E-mail: editor@amcostarica.com.
The Gringo Gazette is a new English-language publication
distributed in the western suburbs of San José. You
may contact them at gringogazette@yahoo.com.
La Nación, Costa Rica's best
Spanish-language daily, has a new online version in English
at: http://www.nacion.com/In_ee/english.
Here is a list of all of the Costa Rican newspapers online:
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Al Dia (Spanish) ........................................http://
www.aldia.co.cr
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A.M. Costa Rica (English) ................... http://www.amcostarica.com
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Central America Panorama (Spanish)....http://www.elpanorama.net
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Costa Rica Today (English) ..............http://www.costaricatoday.net
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Cyberprensa (Spanish) ......................http://www.cyberprensa.com
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Diario Extra (Spanish)........................http://www.diarioextra.com
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El Financiero (Spanish)................http://www.capitalfinanciero.com
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El Heraldo (Spanish) ...........................http://www.elheraldo.net
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Informa-Tico (Spanish) .....................http://www.informa-tico.com
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Inside Costa Rica (Spanish) ............http://www.insidecostarica.com
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La República (Spanish)..........................http://www.larepublica.net
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Nación (Spanish) ......................................http://www.nacion.com
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Prensa Libre panish)............................http://www.prensalibre.co.cr
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Semanario Universidad (Spanish) ...http://www.semanario.ucr.ac.cr
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The Tico Times (English) ............................http://www.ticotimes.net
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