Reflecting on the value of books, the author recalls a video about the importance of reading and shares a personal anecdote from 1995 in Guinea-Bissau. He recounts how the cultural advisor at the Portuguese Embassy, Mário Matos e Lemos, would retrieve stolen library books from the local Bandim market to return them to the shelves, highlighting how these books served both as a source of culture and a means of survival for the local population.