Italian bookseller Michele Gentile, founder of the Ex Libris Cafe bookshop in Polla, a small town near Salerno, "wants to encourage kids to read while doing something for the environment" so he is offering free books to schoolchildren who bring him one plastic bottle and one aluminum can to recycle, CNN reported.
"My goal is to spread the passion and love for books among those people in Italy who do not usually read while at the time helping the environment," he said. "I hope the initiative becomes so viral that it affects the whole country.... It will be revolutionary, not only for the planet but also for the education of children and their job prospects."
The books donated for the initiative are the so-called "pending" or "suspended" books ("libri sospesi" in Italian), which derives from the "suspended coffee," a Neapolitan tradition of purchasing two coffees: one for yourself and the second one as an anonymous gift for the next customer in need who walks into the bar. Gentile had created a similar initiative through which Ex Libris customers buy a book and leave the second one "suspended" for whomever needs it.
"Yesterday alone, I donated 60 suspended books," Gentile said. "Imagine if this becomes a small game: Every child in the world swaps a plastic bottle and a can for books. I know it's just a dream, but why not do it?"