Gutiérrez’s life would never be the same again after finding a copy of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy in the garbage 20 years ago. It happened while he was driving his garbage truck through wealthier neighbourhoods at night and seeing abandoned books. It aroused his desire to start rescuing books from the garbage. He used to take home between 50 and 60 books every morning. Eventually, he turned his book collection into a community library for children from low-income families.
Colombia’s capital city of Bogota has 19 public libraries. However, these libraries tend to be far away from where rural and poorer communities live. The option of buying new books is non-existent for families struggling to make ends meet. Gutiérrez’s community library is a true representation of how one man’s garbage can be another’s treasure.
Gutiérrez grew up poor, and his family could not afford to educate him beyond primary school. Nevertheless, his mother was a passionate reader and read stories to him every night. Her love for books left a deep impression on Gutiérrez.
Today, his makeshift community library, called “The Strength of Words”, occupies most of his home in southern Bogota, and is piled from floor to ceiling with fiction and non-fiction titles. Everything from school textbooks to storybooks can be found in his collection of more than 20.000 books! As word began to spread about his amazing project, people began sending him thousands more books to grow his library.
Despite having done so much for his community, Gutiérrez is not yet content to call it a day. He continues to search through garbage cans for reading materials. Today, the Gutiérrez family does not merely want to start libraries in neighbourhoods. They want to create spaces for school children to spend their time reading.
Gutiérrez’s journey to give back to his local community is an amazing example of how every one of us can improve the lives of those around us. How might we take a leaf out of Gutiérrez’s books and impact the less fortunate around us?
【小题1】What inspired Gutiérrez to rescue unwanted books?| A．The abandoned Anna Karenina. | B．Leo Tolstoy’s life. |
| C．Children’s living conditions. | D．A community-library. |
| A．To create a harmonious neighborhood. |
| B．To give his mother sufficient books. |
| C．To facilitate children’s reading. |
| D．To improve the community life. |
| A．Devoted and talented. | B．Intelligent and generous. |
| C．Passionate and well-educated. | D．Creative and caring. |
| A．Desire for reading | B．From garbage to treasure |
| C．Gutiérrez’s kindness | D．An amazing model of education |
