Ethiopia

Born in a small village to an illiterate cattle merchant who insisted upon his son's education, Yohannes Gebregeorgis had seen few books in school. At age 19, he borrowed a soft-covered romance novel titled Love Kitten that changed his life forever. Today, after getting an MLS and working as a children's librarian in the U.S., he is establishing libraries and literary programs to connect Ethiopian children with books. He established Ethiopia Reads in 1988 to open reading centers and donkey-pulled mobile libraries. "With literate children there is no limit as to how much we can do," says Gebregeorgis - CNN, May 1

Kudos to Yohannes Gebregeorgis