Laredo , Texas ( CNN ) -- The bookstore was Zhuara Rivera 's magical `` Neverland . '' It offered a fairy tale world for 14-year-old Rivera to get lost in stories and words . But the books are gone . On January 16 , Barnes & Noble , which owns B. Dalton , closed the store inside Laredo 's Mall del Norte . That leaves Laredo , Texas , population of 250,000 , one of the largest cities in the United States without a bookstore . The closest bookstore is now 150 miles away , in San Antonio , Texas . `` I was very shocked and I think it 's very sad , '' Zhuara said . `` I love reading . I adore reading . '' Zhuara and dozens of volunteers launched a grass-roots organization called `` Laredo Reads . '' They 've started a petition drive collecting signatures to show corporate book dealers that Laredo can support a bookstore . The death of the store has energized Zhuara . She leaves school and heads straight to the Laredo mall . She races around asking strangers to sign petition forms . She 's collected nearly 1,000 signatures across the city . `` I seriously do n't understand why people do n't just like reading that much , '' she said as she walked briskly past the old store . `` If you do n't know how to read , you 're not going to get very far in life . '' Her mother says Zhuara has cried several times over the bookstore 's demise . For years , Zhuara saved her money and asked her mom to take her to the store . She would walk up and down the small aisles searching for the next book to buy . Barnes & Noble says it closed the Laredo store as part of an overall strategy to shut down the chain of mall-based bookstores . Even though the Laredo store was profitable , the overall chain was losing money , according to company officials . Some in Laredo fear the lack of a book store will make the city look like an ignorant outpost on the Texas border . `` Assuming that we do n't read because we 're Mexican or we 're immigrant or we 're poor , that is not the case , '' said Xochitl Mora , the city 's spokeswoman who spearheads the `` Laredo Reads '' initiative . `` Our challenge is to convince a corporate America bookstore and others they will find a literate , articulate , eloquent citizenry . '' The publishing industry is in the midst of a revolution . Threats from Internet sites , like Amazon.com , and electronic book devices , like the Kindle , have cut into profits of retail book giants . In addition , bookstores are facing increasing competition from mass merchandisers like Target and Wal-Mart . About 50 to 60 small Barnes & Noble-owned bookstores have closed every year over the last 5 to 6 years , the company said . Rival Borders has also struggled financially amid the tough marketplace . Acclaimed novelist Oscar Casares understands first-hand the changing publishing landscape . He grew up in south Texas along the Mexican border , where bookstores have always been hard to find . When his two books , `` Brownsville '' and `` Amigoland , '' were published , he pushed to sell the books in a popular grocery store chain called H.E.B . Right now the H.E.B . grocery store is what passes for a bookstore in Laredo . Casares spoke with CNN inside the grocery . As he talked , a woman bought a copy of his latest book and set it on top of a bag of flour tortillas and a sack of potatoes . `` We had to adapt . We had to realize this was the border , '' Casares said . `` The first thing I realized was there were n't going to be any places to sell the book . I felt we needed another point of distribution . '' Casares admits it took a little while to get used to book signings and readings in the midst of a chaotic grocery store . He worries about what losing the only bookstore will do to Laredo 's spirit . `` I think it creates a void . It 's a void that is n't instantly recognizable but it 's one , that over time , is deflating , '' Casares said . Laredo does have two public libraries with a catalog of more than 200,00 books . But library officials say they ca n't keep up with the demand for the most popular titles . Maria Soliz , manager of the Laredo Public Library , says she hopes to expand the library 's collection and expects to see an increase in library card applications . `` We do have a lot of the same customers , but there are different customers , '' Soliz told CNN . `` They might come to the library , read the book and decide they want to buy it . '' Soliz and others fear the loss of the city 's bookstore will slow down efforts to improve Laredo 's literacy rate . A 2003 study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 48 percent of the residents of Webb County , Texas -- home to Laredo -- lacked basic literacy skills . Many say losing the bookstore threatens efforts to improve the city 's literacy rate . `` A bookstore and what that means for kids to learn the value of literacy and to learn the value of loving books , that 's just something you ca n't really put a value on , '' said Mora .
Laredo , Texas , becomes one of the largest cities in U.S. without bookstore . Nearest bookstore is now 150 miles away in San Antonio . Comment: Some fear Laredo will be dubbed an outpost for the illiterate without store .