A garbage collector in Colombia built a library out of books he collected from the trash

José Alberto Gutiérrez have the title "Lord of the Books" in Colombia after his act of creating a library of 20,000+ books he collected from the trash.

He himself collected all these books from the rich neighborhoods and adds them to the makeshift library in his house which is open to the children of his neighborhood open on weekends.

"This should be in all neighborhoods, on each corner of every neighborhood, in all the towns, in all departments, and all the rural areas," Gutiérrez told The Associated Press in 2015. "Books are our salvation and that's what Colombia needs." He added.

Gutiérrez began collecting discarded books 20 years ago, according to the Associated Press. He credits his work to his mother, who read to him every night even though she could not afford to keep him in school.

"The first book I found was Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, and that little book ignited the flame and [set in motion this] ball that has never stopped rolling." Gutiérrez says in the AP.

Books are now everywhere in all the rooms of his house, while the first floor is a community library called “The Strength of Words”.