Digging for Words: José Alberto Gutiérrez and the Library He Built

A gorgeous and inspiring picture book based on the life of José Alberto Gutiérrez, a garbage collector in Bogotá, Colombia who started a library with a single discarded book found on his route.In the city of Bogata, in the barrio of La Nueva Gloria, there live two Joses.

One is a boy who dreams of Saturdays-- that's the day he gets to visit Paradise, the library.

The second Jose is a garbage collector.

From dusk until dawn, he scans the sidewalks as he drives, squinting in the dim light, searching household trash for hidden treasure .

.

books! Some are stacked in neat piles, as if waiting for José́.

Others take a bit more digging.

Ever since he found his first book, Anna Karenina, years earlier, he's been collecting books--thick ones and thin ones, worn ones and almost new ones-- to add to the collection in his home.

And on Saturdays, kids like little Jose run to the steps of Paradise to discover a world filled with books and wonder.