This is why I'm a librarian.

Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and 10 Legs

This is quite possibly the coolest story I've ever read. For me, it's a vivid reminder of why I wanted to become a librarian, and how important reading, and books, can be.

True, what this man is doing, bringing a small selection of books to a small number of people in the middle of Colombia seems utterly insignificant in the large scheme of things. It's highly unlikely that any of the children who read books brought to them by Biblioburro will end up making a name for themselves on the national scale down there, much less the international scale. What really matters, though, is that this man is making a difference in their lives. Maybe none of them will go down in history, but their minds are being expanded and lives made better by having access to books - and through them, places and ideas - that they might never have encountered otherwise.

All because one man wanted to improve the area he lives in, and decided to get up and do something about it.

I don't really think I'm ever likely to find myself in a similar situation, trying to take books out to people on horseback or something. (Although, with the amount of SciFi I've read, I can picture it happening.) However, what he's doing is really no different, in some ways, from what I might be able to do in a small town, or even a large city, library - bring knowledge to people who might not otherwise have access to it. And really, that's what being a librarian is all about. It's not just helping people find a book to read on vacation, or helping a student out with their report, or teaching someone how to use a computer or find things online.

What it really all comes down to is making a difference in someone's life.

And through those lives changed, affecting the communities we live in.

Yes, I'm not going to be someone whose name is known to historians, much less regular people, in a few hundred years. I might not even be someone whose name is remembered in my own family for more than a generation or so. That's not really something I've particularly cared about. What I have always cared about is people; understanding them, listening to them, and helping them when I can. I hope that I can make a difference to people, and I believe I can do that.

Even if I end up in a position like that man in Colombia, loading books onto the back of donkeys once a week, and carrying them out into the wilderness.