library on bike wheels, photo: Renattod Sousa for Camara MunicipalA bicycle that carries a small library through the city of São Paulo, Brazil encourages reading among people who live on the streets and cannot otherwise access libraries typically requiring ID and proof of residency.

Created one year ago by a 61-year-old librarian who became homeless, the Bicicloteca initiative has won the support of São Paulo residents and businesses.

Now a homeless advocate, Robson Mendonça pedals the 3-wheeled Bicicloteca, which was donated by the the Brazilian NGO ‘Green Mobility Institute’, and has handed over books to more than 107,000 borrowers.

Mendonça credits the reading of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as a catalyst for getting himself off the streets, proving that reading can transform people’s lives.

(READ the story at Global Voices)

Photo: RenattodSousa for Câmara Municipal – Thanks to Gordon Gray for sending the link!

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