A heartwarming story from rural Colombia

Simon Romero's story in today's New York Times tells of a school teacher in rural Colombia who for a decade has acted as a librarian to rural communities, using his burro as his "bookmobile."

Here's a colorful excerpt:

Sweating already under the unforgiving sun, he strapped pouches with the word “Biblioburro” painted in blue letters to the donkeys’ backs and loaded them with an eclectic cargo of books destined for people living in the small villages beyond.

And here's a wonderful paragraph highlighting rural-urban difference:

On a trip this month into the rutted hills, where about 300 people regularly borrow books from him, he reminisced about a visit to the National Library in the capital, Bogotá, where he was stunned by the building’s immense collection and its Art Deco design.

“I felt so ordinary in Bogotá,” Mr. Soriano said. “My place is here.”