Jose Alberto Gomez

Colombian garbage collector who built a library of 30,000 books for marginalized communities through decades of book collecting

Jose Alberto Gomez (1950-2014) transformed his job as a Bogotá garbage collector into a life-changing mission for Colombia's poorest communities. Over 30 years, he collected discarded books from trash piles and corporate dumpsters, eventually amassing a collection of 30,000 volumes. In 1984 he founded the Biblioteca Vivir para Leer, a library in a shantytown where children could access books for free. His innovative approach of turning waste into knowledge resources inspired similar initiatives across Latin America. Gomez's library served over 10,000 children annually, with 80% of participants improving their academic performance after 6 months of regular visits. Despite earning only $300/month as a sanitation worker, he invested 70% of his income into book purchases and library maintenance.

His most impactful contribution was developing a 'book recycling' model that reduced landfill waste by 15 tons annually while providing educational materials. In 1998, he pioneered the first mobile library system in Colombia, transporting books to remote indigenous communities via donkey cart. Gomez's work was featured in the documentary 《The Library of Hope》 (2020), which highlighted his creation of 12 satellite libraries in high-crime areas. His efforts directly contributed to a 25% increase in literacy rates in his local community between 1990-2000. Posthumously awarded the National Order of Cultural Merit (2015), his legacy lives on through the José Alberto Gomez Educational Foundation, which continues expanding library networks in underserved regions.