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The Tale of the Iraqi Librarian Who Saved the Books She Loves

  By Karen Campbell in Christian Science Monitor  

Posted: 2009-12-09

When you think there's nothing you can do against the crush of corporate-politico-media power, think about the librarian of Basra. Here is evidence of the difference one person can make. The Christin Science Monitor does not allow posting of full articles. For the full article go here. This article appeared on Feb. 22, 2005.

Of all the children's books about the good one person can do, few are more timely or resonant than Jeanette Winter's The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq.

The true account of an Iraqi librarian's brave struggle to save her community's priceless collection of books dramatically illustrates the difference one person can make. And in a moving parallel, the author is now leaving her own indelible footprints at the point where the story ends.

The book was inspired by a July 2003, article in The New York Times about Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of Basra's Central Library, who was determined to protect the library's holdings when US troops entered Iraq and fighting and looting broke out. . . .

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