The Librarian of Basra

In this true story emerging from war town Iraq, we are given a valuable alternative vision of what it means to be a faithful Muslim.  Over time, the sensationalized treatment each and every suicide bombing gets from our media begins to impart misplaced caricatures.  This true hero, Alia Muhammad Baker utters the lines that led her life's faith-based work: "In the Koran, the first thin God said to Muhammad was, 'Read.'"

War clouds threatened on the horizon, and Alia Muhammad Baker, chief librarian of Basra's Central Library, refused to let these books, "more precious than mountains of gold" be destroyed.  After being denied help from the government, Alia moved the library's holdings to a nearby restaurant just nine days before the library was torched.  As fighting continued, she risked personal safety to smuggle over 30,000 volumes to her home and the homes of friends.



Then, Alia waits.  Like so many Iraqis today, tired of war and ready for peace she waits. She waits for a new library to house her collection of books.  The book ends with this goal unrealized.  The fighting in Iraq continues in the midst of American occupation.  Sadly, nearly ten years after publication, little has changed.