Message

I recently attended the Internet Librarian International conference where the keynote speaker was Dr Saad Eskander newly appointed director of the Iraq National Library. I attach my notes which are my own interpretation of what he said. Illustrations are available on the website including the infamous vacuum cleaners Mr Sakander reported the following in a no-holds barred discussion. * Before the war all archives had been subject to scrutiny by Saddam and his party * Most archives were about his own party * Many were fabricated to change history * 3 days before the Americans invaded, the archive section were told to burn all archives relating to Saddam and his party After the war the archives were looted. * Some was locals with an eye for a quick buck. * The majority were systematically looted, by Saddam's people to remove all evidence of atrocities etc. * All archives relating to border disputes and settlements with some of Iraq's neighbours were looted. Help was promised by the Americans and many of the International community * American help has been limited to supplying 6 vacuum cleaners * British help has been vague promises by the British Council * French help- promised but nothing yet * Czech republic - lots of help in funding and staffing * Italians the best -18 pc's and furniture. Help with staffing. They are the two Italian ladies who were kidnapped and then freed. The Future Despite all we hear, there have been great advances. * A new minister of Culture has been appointed * Library staff have been appointed on merit. This has led to female librarians, and librarians of different ethnic backgrounds, which has never happened before under Saddam * Decisions are made democratically * The library has a bomb alert only about once a week * The library is now clean and habitable * Many artefacts looted by locals are being returned Ian Stringer http://www.internet-librarian.com/Presentations.shtml