San Jose, Sep 4 (EFE).- Colombian writer Alberto Salcedo, who loves telling stories, said in an interview with EFE that books have a tremendous value because they are “the best thing that can happen to a society,” providing “quality time” for people.

“Books help us to have a good time, to spend some quality time. A book is the best thing that can happen to a society, helping it understand its time and social problems,” the Colombian writer said.

Salcedo Ramos is in Costa Rica as a special guest at the International Book Fair that runs until Sept. 11 in the Central American country.

The 53-year-old journalist, who was born in Barranquilla and raised by his maternal grandparents in Arenal, said he grew up in a house with few books because his grandfather was a rancher, “an illiterate man” who had no love for literature.

Salcedo Ramos said books provided a refuge during his teenage years.

“For me, books were very helpful because they helped me be less lonely, I’m talking about a time when there was no Internet or cell phones, so books were a window on the world,” the writer said.

Salcedo Ramos has won numerous prizes, including the King of Spain Journalism Prize and Colombia’s Simon Bolivar Prize. EFE