What follows is only the first of three pages of this report, which can be found at
http://abcnews.go.com/International/IraqCoverage/story?id=4006405
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From: Middle Eastern and Islamic Library Collections and Bibliography on behalf of Paul Auchterlonie
Sent: Fri 21/12/07 09:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Iraq National Library
You may be interested in this story which was published recently by ABC
News.
Paul Auchterlonie
University of Exeter Library.
After Looting, Burning, Iraqi Archive Makes Comeback : Archive's Head
Fosters Non-Sectarian Environment, Empowers Women.
By TROY MCMULLEN
BAGHDAD, Dec. 16, 2007.
In the weeks after the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003,
the charred, partly gutted Iraqi National Library and Archive became a
symbol of the chaos and lawlessness that swept through the capital.
During a three-day rampage, looters pillaged and burned the building,
stealing hundreds of rare, centuries-old Islamic documents and texts.
Fire, smoke and water damaged much of what remained.
Mounir Bouchenaki, the deputy director-general of the U.N. cultural body
Unesco called it "a catastrophe for the cultural heritage of Iraq."
Now, on the brink of the first anniversary of Saddam Hussein's death, and
some four years since it was looted, the library's recovery is exceeding
even the most optimistic predictions.
Windows once shattered by stray bullets have been replaced. Fresh coats of
paint cover newly renovated walls, and dozens of new desktop computers
line refurbished work spaces. The library employed about 90 people before
the war. Today, 400 mostly young staffers have turned it into a hive of
activity.
"After the burnings and chaos, no one was in here but the dogs and cats,"
said Saad Eskander, a Baghdad-born ethnic Kurd who has run the archive
since 2003. "Today the library is better than before the war."
An infusion of critical help from foreign non-governmental organizations
is playing a key role in getting the archive back on its feet:
More than 100 new-model computers were donated by Japanese and Italian
NGO's, which installed high-speed Internet throughout the building.
A Czech Republic aid group contributed state-of-the-art digital microfilm
machines and scanners, and paid to have Iraqi employees travel to Prague
to learn how to use the equipment.
The British Library provided microfilm copies of thousands of rare books
and microfiche copies of important Iraqi records.
An Italian outfit even donated furniture that matched the mid century
motif of two-story building's interior architecture.
The archive is succeeding in other areas, too. Eskander has managed to
keep sectarian divisions out of the building by fostering a sense of
national pride among his young employees. Pictures of politicians and
tribal leaders are banned from the building, as are deep discussions on
religion or political policy.
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