Comments on: Biblioburros

Biblioburros

The corpse in the library — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:27:22 -0800

Luis Soriano, with his donkeys Alfa and Beto, brings books to small villages in Colombia.

By: Challahtronix

Challahtronix — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:39:15 -0800

There are similar efforts in Venezuela and Ethiopia (an Ethiopian coffee shop in my neighborhood has a donation jar). Looks like it's catching on....

By: netbros

netbros — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:43:34 -0800

Inspiring story corpse. Thanks. Here's another burro story.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:45:53 -0800

I just like saying the word "biblioburro".

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:50:29 -0800

Oh, man. I want to find a way to donate books to this guy now -- I actually have a couple Spanish-language texts that my roommate left behind when she moved.

By: IvoShandor

IvoShandor — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:52:59 -0800

Interesting. Colombia's literacy rate c. 2004 was right around 93 percent. Surely it's lower in rural areas, but that's pretty impressive.

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:53:08 -0800

Somehow the idea of getting up early and taking my biblio-burros across hills and through leafy fields to remote villages sounds like something I could spend the rest of my life doing. Of course, being in Colombia, one of the burros would also be carrying a little thermos of coffee made from beans I ground that morning...

By: IvoShandor

IvoShandor — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:58:58 -0800

one of the burros would also be carrying a little thermos of coffee made from beans I ground that morning... More money in coke ~~burros~~ mules.

By: DU

DU — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:00:16 -0800

I think 4800 books is larger than what my tiny town had when I was a kid (although it was a rotating selection). Pretty awesome idea. Too bad the infrastructure and training isn't there to put an internet kiosk in all these villages. (By "infrastructure" I mean both connectivity and power for the hardware, but also licensing and availability of books online.)

By: humannaire

humannaire — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:17:14 -0800

Oh, man. I want to find a way to donate books to this guy now Actually, I am certain that cold hard cash would work even better. Is there a way to offer some financial support to Mr Soriano so that he may better pursue this noble cause? Because this is the greatest thing I have heard of. [signs into PayPal, awaits studied reply]

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:48:37 -0800

What a great, totally inspiring, heart-warming story. I love this Luis Soriano guy. Thank you for this post.

By: QIbHom

QIbHom — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:10:02 -0800

We used to have a similar program in the US. Of course, having eliminated poverty and illiteracy, we no longer need this.

By: adamvasco

adamvasco — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:27:31 -0800

I've just emailed the link to some Colombian friends who live in Baranquilla to see if they know anything about this guy. What an inspiration. If I find out anything useful I will post it here.

By: LVdB

LVdB — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:53:19 -0800

Here's a video of him reading to some kids.

By: amyms

amyms — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:07:20 -0800

Wonderful story, thanks!

By: dhruva

dhruva — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:00:17 -0800

sorta related: I just found out that the spanish slang for dictionary (in mexico ) is 'tumbaburros' , suggesting the book is large enough to knock a donkey over.

By: adamvasco

adamvasco — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:04:02 -0800

Also in Colombia: The Internet boat down the Magdalena River. The vessel is called Florentino Ariza after the main chacter in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love in the time of Cholera". With 14 computers onboard all with a Satellite internet connection the vessel will traverse the Magdalena River from the foothills to the Caribbean stopping in all the provinces to teach and encourage internet use along the way.