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Iraq National Library Slowly RebuildsAfter over a year of reorganization and cleanup, the Iraq National Library in Baghdad has been gradually recovering from the devastation wrought by war and began opening its doors to readers and researchers in mid-July. Saad Eskander, a Kurdish historian who was appointed library director in December 2003, estimates that about 60% of the library’s archival records on modern Iraq have been lost since the arrival of American troops in Baghdad, along with nearly all its historical maps, photos, and rare books. He has been making occasional trips to book markets to look for replacement items.Eskander said in the October 14 Christian Science Monitor that Americans and Iraqis were equally responsible for the cultural losses. “There is no question the Americans neglected their duty as military occupiers,” he said. “But what happened to this library was still primarily the fault of the former director general,” who moved rare materials to the basement of the nearby board of tourism during the buildup to war. The books survived the bombing, Eskander said, but two months after the fall of the city, “someone entered the basement, took what they wanted, and opened the water taps.” As verified by a team from the Library of Congress who visited the facility in October 2003, many of these materials were unrecoverable. The National Endowment for the Humanities has provided funding to Simmons College and Harvard University to train several Iraqi librarians in restoration, but Eskander said the U.S. has refused to issue them visas. Meanwhile, he is looking into restoration programs in Europe. The Iraqi Museum in Baghdad remains closed because of its location in an area of frequent attacks on U.S. military forces, according to the Monitor. But Museum Director Donny George hopes to reopen its doors within a year. Posted October 15, 2004. |
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