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A garbage man saved 25,000 books and turned them into a library. The pictures are amazing.

There is no such thing as book heaven. Unless you're in Bogota, Colombia, and know an angel named Jose.

What do you do with old books?

You might pass them along to a friend, donate them, or add them to one of those Little Free Libraries. But, let's be honest, a good amount of used books end up in the trash.

If you live in Bogota, Colombia, the person who picks up your discarded book might be José Alberto Gutiérrez. And if Gutierrez finds your old book, it is one lucky little book indeed.


Gutiérrez at work. Photo by AP Photo/Fernando Vergara.

For the past 20 years, Gutiérrez has been on a mission to save discarded books.

Bookshelves piled on top of bookshelves? Looks like my room. Photo by Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images.

Gutiérrez, a garbage man, saves old books that other people have thrown away. Books are usually left separate from the rest of the rubbish, and if they're in good condition, Gutiérrez picks them up and takes them home.

Though Gutiérrez's collection started with a single book (Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina"), today the total number of recovered reads has grown to roughly 25,000 at last count. The books take up the entire ground floor of his house, stacked up into great walls and mountains of pages.

[rebelmouse-image 19530219 dam="1" original_size="750x500" caption=""I want that one!" Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP." expand=1]"I want that one!" Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP.

As the collection grew, people began to take notice. Visitors would ask if they could borrow a book or two to help their kids get ready for school.

The whole endeavor is now a community library: "La Fuerza de las Palabras" — "The Strength of Words" in Spanish.

Think of how much they must weigh! Photo by Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images.

Gutiérrez's family helps run the project, coordinating pickups, doing the administrative work, and organizing events.

But more than instilling a love of books, the program is also about giving kids a leg up in education.

Gutiérrez lives in the La Nueva Gloria barrio, a low-income neighborhood in southern Bogota. When he started, the community's single school didn't have a library of its own. A donation from Gutiérrez helped fix that.

In fact, since he's started, Gutiérrez has donated reading materials to 235 different schools and communities.

Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP.

"The whole value of what we do lies in helping kids start reading," Gutiérrez told Al Jazeera.

"I grew up, here and I can tell you it got me a Ph.D. in marginalization and poverty," Gutiérrez said. "Kids here don't have a place to study; instead, they have to start working early."

Today the library has become a fixture of the city.

Gutiérrez has been invited to book fairs and profiled by local newspapers. An old, donated ambulance has been turned into a bookmobile. There are even plans to build a real brick-and-mortar building.

The other garbage truck drivers know exactly where to bring books if they find any. There is no such thing as book heaven, but La Fuerza de las Palabras must be pretty dang close.

"Libraries Transform"

That's the theme of this year's National Library Week, an annual awareness celebration sponsored by the American Library Association.

You might be wondering why something as ubiquitous as a library would need more attention, considering the fact they've been pretty major staples of civilization since at least2600 B.C. But that's because you live in a time and place where information resources are readily available, so it's easy to take them for granted. And of course, the only reason we have books and knowledge and guidance right there at our fingertips is — you guessed it — libraries.


Here are some physically transformative libraries from across the globe to show you just how transcendent they can be.

Tree of Knowledge? Books are like trees turned into knowledge! Photo by Alfred Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images.

1. Geisel Library — University of California, San Diego

This beautiful brutalist spaceship was named for Dr. Seuss (aka Theodor Seuss Geisel), and plenty of Seussian statues litter the gardens around it.

Photo by Belis@rio/Flickr.

2. Admont Abbey library — Admont, Austria

The largest monastic library in the world dates back to 1776, and contains thousands upon thousands of historical manuscripts and records from throughout the monks' history.

Photo by Jorge Royan/Wikimedia Commons.

3. The AD White Reading Room at Uris Library — Cornell University

This reading room was named for one of the co-founders of the university, but it looks more like something out of a Lemony Snicket story. The library's collection also claims one of the only extant copies of the Gettysburg Address, plus first editions of "Origin of Species," the "Book of Mormon," and "Pride and Prejudice."

Photo by eflon/Flickr.

4. Bibliotheca Alexandrina — Egypt

The original Ancient Royal Library of Alexandria was built in the third century B.C., but the newest building to commemorate it was inaugurated in 2002. The original structure was destroyed and burned frequently during historical conflicts, so while the library's latest iteration might not be that old, it's still pretty stunning.

Photo by Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images.

5. Arma de Instrucción Masiva — Buenos Aires

Why yes that is an armored tank that travels the world giving out books. OK, technically it's a converted Ford Falcon designed by an Argentinian artist named Raul Lemesoff, but this "weapon of mass instruction" (get it?) is still awesome.

Photo by Carlos Adampol Galindo/Flickr.

6. Mobile Beach Library — Tel Aviv

Who cares about a beach bod when you can flex your mind? The Tel Aviv Municipality cultural department set this cart up at Metzitzim Beach for the enjoyment of locals and tourists alike.

Photo by Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images.

7. Levinski Garden Library — Tel Aviv

Also found in Tel Aviv, this stand was setup in 2010 as a "social-artistic urban community project" specifically designed to appeal to the city's immigrant and refugee populations.

Photo by Itzuvit/Wikimedia Commons.

8. Biblioteca Vasconcelos — Mexico City

Speaking of knowledge, Wikipedia leads me to believe that this $100 million project is totally definitely not a glitch in "The Matrix." OK, sure.

Photo by Eneas De Troya/Flickr.

9. The Bibliobus, Bookmobile, or other motor-powered information vehicle

Easily accessible information is a key tenet to democracy. But not everyone can get to a physical library (or a computer with internet access). So these bookbuses bring the words to the people (or at least to underserved communities in their respective municipalities).

This particular one is run by the Ottawa Public Library system. Photo by SimonP/Wikimedia Commons.

10. Kudapustaka (translated: "horse library") — Indonesia

The mobile libraries above are cool and all, but they're not so useful for remote locations like Central Java Indonesia. Like a knight in paperback armor, Ridwan Sururi and his trusted steed, Luna, spread knowledge across the communities of the island, helping to educate its many residents.

Photo by Putu Sayoga/Getty Images.

11. Biblioburro (translated: "donkey library") — Colombia

Similar to the kudapustaka above, the biblioburro is run by a primary school teacher named Luis Soriano and his donkeys, Alfa and Beto, and it brings literature and adventure to children in poor and remote parts of the country. They even have their very own documentary!

Photo by Acción Visual/Diana Arias/Wikimedia Commons.

12. Tiny Free Libraries — everywhere

We've already written about these and they're still every bit as wonderful as they were then.

Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.

13. The Long Room at Trinity College — Dublin

Ireland has a long history of maintaining written records and copies of, well, everything. The history of the Trinity College library goes back to the late-16th century, but since 1801, it's served as an archive collection for any copyrighted material printed in Ireland or the U.K., making it a massive trove of intellectual property.

Photo by David Iliff/Wikimedia Commons.

14. National Library of Kosovo — Pristina

Kosovo has a long and complicated history, but it's still pretty remarkable they were able to take golf balls lodged in a chainlink fence as inspiration for a reference space full of private reading rooms. Yes, it's been called one of the ugliest buildings in the world — but in truth, that shouldn't distract from the incredible fact that a central hub of information like this has remained intact throughout all of the country's conflicts.

Photo by Fitore Syla/Wikimedia Commons.

15. National and University Library — France

Located in Strasbourg near the Eastern border of France, this library was actually founded by the German Empire after the city's original municipal library was destroyed by Prussia. In a testament to the power of information, the new library received an overflow of book donations from countries across Europe and the United States, and it now holds France's second largest collection at 3 million volumes.

Photo by Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images.

16. The National Library of China — Beijing

Sometimes reading a good book is like spiraling down an endless hole of awesomeness. That's also how it feels to stare down the levels of China's immaculate National Library, which contains the largest collection of Chinese literature and historical documents in the world, as well as one of the largest overall collections in the world, spanning more than 115 languages.

Photo by IQRemix/Flickr.

17. Community Bookshelf — Kansas City, Missouri

OK so technically this a parking garage next to the Kansas City Public Library, but it still counts. 'Cause c'mon, that's awesome. Each of the 22 books (which you can imagine endured a daunting selection process) measures approximately 25 feet tall by nine feet wide.

Photo by Tim Samoff/Flickr.

18. Philippines neighborhood library — Manila

After his parents passed away, Nanie Guanlao wanted to find a unique way to honor their memory. So he put a few dozen books outside his house for free and encouraged people to borrow them — which they did and brought back new book donations with them. 15 years later, his home library boasts thousands of books, and some locals consider it the true "national library" of the Philippines.

Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images.

19. Stockholm Public Library — Sweden

This place is just plain ol' gorgeous. Maybe "Stockholm syndrome" should mean getting lost in these stacks.

Photo by Chibi Code/Flickr.

20. Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart — Germany

Stuttgart's original public library at Wilhelms Palais was the converted home of King Wilhelm II. The new location, which opened in 2011, is less of a castle, more of a spaceship come from the future to transport our brains beyond the stars. (I always wondered why my friend who grew up in Stuttgart was so well-versed in literature; now I understand.)

Photo by O Palsson/Flickr.

21. The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library — New Haven

One of the world's largest libraries devoted entirely to rare books and manuscripts, they have an original Gutenberg Bible! And if that's not amazing enough, just look at those glass columns. It's like the past and the future converged in one place. Books will blow your mind, man.

Photo by Lauren Manning/Flickr.

22. Metropolitan book vending machinea — Tokyo

Looking for cigarettes, soda, or maybe snack? Japan's got a better idea — use your imagination. (Please note: Thoughts do not contain calories and Upworthy is not responsible for any damage caused by supplementing your nutritional intake with books.)

Photo by Pedro Layant/Flickr.

23. This converted phone booth — Prague

Can you think of a better way to brighten up a hospital waiting room? If you're a book fiend with a crippling fear of hospitals, like me, it's perfect. Phone booth libraries like this have also been known to pop up in places like London and Berlin, particularly as mobile phones have increased in popularity and stationary phone booths have otherwise lost their purpose.

Photo by Michael Cizek/AFP/Getty Images.

24. National Library of Brazil — Rio de Janeiro

The largest library in Latin America has been on the cutting edge of science education and technology since it opened in 1810. And like the Mexico City library above, it is definitely totally not a scene from "The Matrix."

Photo by Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images.

25. National Digital Library — Seoul

Also known as the "Dibrary," this building boasts plenty of advanced information technology facilities, offering a wide range of e-books and magazines, and digital movies and music — just no actual physical media of any kind. But that's OK; information access still counts in kilobytes as well as in paper (wrote the writer on the website).

Photo by Mosman Library/Flickr.

So yes, libraries transform.

They transform minds. They transform cultures. They even transform the world, both metaphorically and physically. If libraries can transform spaces like this, imagine what they can do to your mind.

Police officers in Colombia made a startling discovery recently: an abandoned newborn baby, left for dead in the forrest.

The Metro, a U.K.-based site, shared the story of a baby in the South American country who was discovered in the undergrowth of a "remote forest settlement." 

Starving and at risk for hypothermia with its umbilical cord still partially attached, the baby girl wasn't in great condition. 


Never fear, though! A breastfeeding mom/superhero police officer was there.

The baby was found by Edinora Jimenez, a 59-year-old who was out collecting oranges. She immediately called the police. Among the responders was officer Luisa Fernanda Urrea, who just so happened to be a new mom. She did what any new mom/superhero in her position would do: she breastfed that baby. 

Photo by Radio Robledo.

Yep, that's right! Urrea did the one thing she could to help the struggling newborn. "I’m a new mother and I have milk and I recognised the needs that this poor little creature had," she told local media. "I think any woman would have given her nourishment in the same circumstances."

Watch Urrea in this video uploaded to Facebook: 

(The baby survived and is currently in the custody of Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, which is working on finding an adoptive family for her.)

While this officer is being heralded across the world for her amazing act, sadly, women in the U.S. who breastfeed publicly aren't always treated so well.

In fact, many people are so offended when they see a woman breastfeeding in public that they feel compelled to tell her to stop, move, or cover up. Why is the U.S. light-years behind many other countries when it comes to the way we view the very natural act of feeding a baby?

If you think about it, the fact that some people insist moms cover up or even leave public spaces to breastfeed is odd because we see breasts all over the place, sexualized in our daily lives — from commercials selling cheeseburgers to print ads for men's cologne. The truth is that breastfeeding is a healthy and natural way to nourish a baby for mothers who choose it, and it's time we catch up to so many other countries that view is as such. 

The upside: Advocates continue to speak out.

Actress Alyssa Milano recently confronted a talk-show host who voiced her discomfort with seeing a woman breastfeeding but was perfectly fine seeing a celebrity with her breasts exposed in a provocative pose. 

"So for you, maybe you've sexualized breasts," Milano told host Wendy Williams after she told Milano: "I don't need to see that. I just don't want to."

For an additional piece of food for thought, consider this: Women make up a small portion of police departments.

Very small, actually. According to Katherine Spillar writing in the Washington Post and citing 2007 Department of Justice statistics, women comprised only 6.5% of state police forces and 11.2% of sheriffs' forces in the U.S. That's unfortunate for many reasons, including this:  

"A 2002 study by the National Center for Women & Policing of excessive force incidents in seven major city police departments found that 'the average male officer is over eight and a half times more likely than his female counterpart to have an allegation of excessive force sustained against him ... [and] two to three times more likely than the average female officer to have a citizen name him in a complaint of excessive force.'”

Not only can female officers literally save babies lives, as Urrea did, on the very rare occasion the opportunity comes up, but they can calmly police communities in a less violent way on the daily. Sounds like a win to me. 

Kudos to officer Urrea for her quick thinking on the job.