The saying goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” and garbage collectors in Turkey have truly taken that phrase to heart. In the country’s capital of Ankara, they have opened a library composed of discarded books headed for landfills.

Library made of discarded books

Photo: Çankaya Belediyesi/Facebook

Since word of the library has spread, people have started donating their unwanted books to the cause. The library was initially intended to be used solely by employees and their families, but as interest grew, it officially opened to the public.

The library, hosted in a former brick factory, now houses over 25,000 fiction and nonfiction works, sorted into 17 categories. It’s a great spot for sanitation workers of the Çankaya district of Ankara to take a break.

Turkish sanitation workers reading

Photo: Çankaya Belediyesi/Facebook

Following the success of the library, workers have converted a garbage truck into a small mobile library to bring books they collected to nearby schools and other district libraries.

H/T: For Reading Addicts

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