Raden rides a motorbike around the villages on an island in her country, Indonesia. But it is not a normal motorbike; it is a moving library. Raden is a librarian, and she gives books to children in exchange for trash. Her idea is to clean the streets and educate children.
Every day from Monday to Friday, Raden cycles her moving library along the roads. As soon as she arrives, many children run to her Trash Library. Some are with their mothers, and they all carry bags full of trash. The children want to learn, and this is the only way many families can get books.
Raden collects about one hundred kilograms of trash each week. Then people who work with Raden organize the trash into different categories: cups, bags, and so on. After that, they send the objects to a recycling center or sell them. Finally, they use the money to buy more books for the library. Raden has thousands of books, and she wants to take her library to other neighborhoods as well.
A lot of the local population cannot read, so Raden’s library is very important to the children’s future. The head of the main public library is happy with Raden’s Trash Library. Many teenagers spend all their time playing online games, and they don’t learn or interact with others. But with books, they learn to read and write, discover other worlds, and discuss ideas with each other.
When children collect bags of trash, they see that it is important to recycle plastic. So Raden’s Trash Library is teaching children to be responsible, and encouraging them to learn and create better opportunities for themselves.
