Since this important document on Iraqi libraries does not seem to have
received wide circulation, I hope members still find it useful, although
it relates to our knowledge of the situation at the beginning of May.

Paul Auchterlonie
Librarian for Middle East Studies
University of Exeter


"I attach a brief assessment of the damage to library and archive
collections prepared by the Library's Head of Asian and African
Collections, Graham Shaw.

        <<LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES IN IRAQ.doc>>

The International Committee of the Blue Shield will have discussed Iraq at
its meeting on Monday 5 May. The BL has conveyed to IFLA its concern that:


* importantly, the library and archives world demonstrates publicly as well
as professionally that it is mobilizing resources (just as the museum world
is) to assist institutions in Iraq to recover and rebuild.

* IFLA and ICA should take a joint lead now to ensure that, under UNESCO's
general umbrella, they become the focal points through which offers of
financial, specialist staff, duplicate stock, spare equipment, etc. are
channelled to Iraq. Without this international coordination role by IFLA
and
ICA, there is a danger of duplication of effort and waste of resources.

* a strong message should go out from Monday's meeting of the International
Committee of the Blue Shield that IFLA and ICA, with UNESCO's blessing,
have
committed themselves to this role and the BL has suggested a draft plan of
action which might form the basis of this going forward; and finally

* the BL is naturally very anxious - as one of the leading Middle East
studies libraries in the world - to participate in a co-ordinated IFLA-led
effort."

> Andy Stephens
> Head Corporate Secretariat
> British Library"



       ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGE TO LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES IN IRAQ


1.  Update based on:
• Verbal report by Dr Donny George, Director of Research, Iraqi
Museum, to the meeting convened by the British Museum and UNESCO 29th
April 2003 to discuss International Support for Iraq’s Museums
• Written report by Edouard Méténier, a French researcher who spent
6 months working in Iraqi libraries, mostly in Baghdad from November 2002
until early April (Aperçu sur l’état des bibliothèques et dépôts
d’archives irakiens au terme de la guerre d’avril 2003)
• Information posted on various web-groups (H-ISLAM, H-LEVANT, etc.)
• Best source of information on Iraq's manuscript libraries - their
collections and the bibliography of those collections - is G. Roper ed.
World survey of Islamic manuscripts Vol. 2 (London, 1993).

2.  Libraries in Baghdad:
• Library of the Iraqi Museum:  one of the finest collections on
history and archaeology of the Middle East – most evacuated before the war
started – completely protected
• Islamic Manuscripts Collection of the Iraqi Museum:  about 4,000
volumes - likewise evacuated before the war to a bunker away from the main
museum building – all safe (i.e. not transferred to the Saddam Manuscripts
House in 1988 as reported in Roper's Survey)
• National Library of Iraq: about 500K printed books and serials
(including 5K rare books) – looted and burnt (suffered from its location
opposite the Iraqi Defence Ministry building) - but some holdings at least
(e.g. early newspapers) reported to have been evacuated beforehand and to
be safe
• National Archives of Iraq (which shared the same building as the
National Library): containing documents from the Ottoman period onwards -
size of contents unknown (no published catalogue traced) – likewise looted
and burnt, but again some material at least (e.g. Ottoman cadastral
registers) reported to have been evacuated beforehand and to be safe
• Al-Awqaf Library (Ministry of Religious Affairs):  situated very
close to the National Library - over 5,000 Islamic manuscripts (Arabic,
Persian, etc.) – likewise looted and burnt
• Saddam Manuscripts House:  about 38,000 volumes – evacuated before
the war – contents safe – plus the records of a further 50,000 manuscripts
in other collections throughout Iraq
• Central Library of the University of Baghdad (on 2 sites):  about
600K printed books, serials, maps, etc. - both sites burnt
• Al-Mustansiriya University Library:  about 200K printed books and
serials, etc. - nothing known
• Qadiriya Library:  over 1,500 manuscripts – apparently undamaged
• Educational Documentation Library:  about 40K printed books and
serials - nothing known
• Scientific Documentation Centre Library:  no information
• Library of the Iraqi Academy of Sciences:  nothing known – Arabic
and Western-language printed books and serials - most of its 800 Islamic
manuscript apparently transferred to the Saddam Manuscripts House
• Library of Bayt al-Hikma: centre for research in the social
sciences, law, economics and strategic studies very active in the 1980s –
situated in the same area as the National Library – believed to be
completely destroyed

Roper also lists 7 other manuscript libraries in Baghdad about which no
information available.

3. Libraries outside Baghdad:  Very little information yet available:
a real urgency for this to be collected on the ground.  NB It may yet well
turn out to be that –as in Baghdad – the staff of libraries in other
cities took precautions before the war and evacuated part or all of their
collections:

Mosul
• Central Library of the University of Mosul: about 900K printed
books, serials, etc. – looted and burnt
• Library of the Mosul Museum:  since the Museum was bombed and
looted, its library presumably also damaged
• Other libraries in Mosul:  3 libraries containing 6,500 Islamic
manuscripts, most important of which the Al-Awqaf Library with 5.700
manuscripts – nothing known

Basra
• Central Library of the University of Basra:  containing 1,400
manuscripts, 200K printed books, serials, etc. -nothing yet known
• Library of the Centre for Arab Gulf Studies:  nothing known
• Archives of the Court of Justice:  contain the Ottoman period
documents on the Basra region - nothing known
• Other libraries in Basra:  only one other small manuscripts
collection (Abassi Library – 600 volumes): nothing known

Other Cities
• Libraries in Karbala and Najaf (the two towns holy to the Shias) –
3 collections in each - containing together over 12,000 manuscripts –
probably did not suffer damage during the recent war – but they are
believed to have been heavily pillaged, if not totally destroyed, during
the 1991 suppression of the Shia revolt against Saddam Hussain
• Libraries in Sulaymania:  2 collections containing 4,400 (of which
3,700 in the Al-Awqaf Library) – nothing known.

4. General conclusion re: libraries and archives in Iraq:

• The overall picture is still far from clear - particularly for
libraries and archives outside Baghdad, but there are encouraging reports
that many institutions took steps to evacuate at least parts of their
collection to safer storage elsewhere
• Most serious 'irreplaceable' loss = National Archives - probably
some documents from the Ottoman period will be duplicated in archives in
Turkey - some documents from the British period will also be found in BL
(India Office Records) - but by no means all
• Equally serious = national library + university libraries - the
two largest of the four principal university libraries have apparently
been destroyed (universities of Baghdad and Mosul) - in the worst case
scenario, 2 million printed books and serials out of a total combined
stock of 2.5 million could have been destroyed - despite some material now
known to have been evacuated, the extent of the loss may still be very
considerable, representing a devastating blow to teaching and research
• Islamic manuscripts collections - only one important collection
destroyed (5,000 volumes in the Al-Awqaf Library in Baghdad).  This part
of Iraq's unique cultural heritage - of world importance - appears to have
emerged remarkably unscathed.


1 May 2003
Graham Shaw
British Library