Phoenix Cura Corner

The flagship library of the Phoenix Public Library system, the Burton Barr Central Library, is down Central Avenue mere minutes away from the Health Sciences Campus -- Phoenix. 

Burton Barr Central Library

1221 N. Central Ave. 

A Phoenix Public Library Account is available to Maricopa County residents at no cost. Residents outside of Maricopa County are eligible to apply for borrowing privileges to include an annual $40 fee. You have options to obtain a traditional printed library card or an eCard, for immediate remote access to electronic services.

Highlights:

* Streaming video via hoopla or Kanopy

* eBooks and Audiobooks

* Laptop Lending Program: Individuals with a valid Phoenix Public Library account may borrow a laptop for 3 weeks at a time

* Culture Pass Program: A Culture Pass​ gives a library customer FREE admission for two people at participating arts and cultural institutions. Passes are available on a first-come, first-served basis.  They cannot be renewed; they cannot be placed on hold.

* Seed Library: a variety of fruit, vegetable and perennial seeds available while seed supplies last.

Coffee Shops

Rachel Jones and Claudia Mares, School of Medicine Academic Success Consultants, originally curated a list of their favorites for the Cura Corner. Other faculty and staff have since added! Let us know if you try any!

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii

Cartel Coffee Lab

Copper Star Coffee

Dapper & Stout

Futuro

Giant Coffee

Lola Coffee

Lux

Press Coffee

Songbird Coffee

Tres Leches Cafe

Urban Beans

Local Bookstores

Some of our favorite local bookstores! Check out their offerings in-store or online (or via IndieBound), but especially their calendar of events for speakers and special events!

Changing Hands Bookstore

Changing Hands is Arizona's leading independent bookstore, offering new and used books, unique gifts, toys, and more than 300 author events every year. The Phoenix location is just up the street on Camelback, including First Drafts Bar. 

Half Price Books

HPB's founders founders coined the phrase, “We buy and sell everything ever printed or recorded (except yesterday’s newspaper).” And if you’ve been to one of their stores, you know that’s true.

Palabras Bilingual Bookstore

Palabras is a local community and cultural hub with a specially curated diverse collection of books, an art gallery, a workshop and event space and small mutual aid garden. The store is just down 7th Avenue on Roosevelt.

The Poisoned Pen

Located in Old Town Scottsdale’s Art District, The Poisoned Pen is an independent bookstore specializing in fiction. Discover current and classic works of mystery, thrillers, historical and literary fiction, and literature of the American Southwest, much of it offered in Autographed First Editions and imports.

Wasted Ink Zine Distro

Next door to Palabras, Wasted Ink stocks independent and self-published works by more than 300 creators of diverse backgrounds, including LGBTQIA+, disabled, chronically ill, and Arizona authors and illustrators. The shop is developing a reading library that will make more than 1,000 titles more accessible to the community.