The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq
by Jeanette Winter
Alia Muhammad Bakeris a librarian in Basra, Iraq. For fourteen years, her library has been a meeting place for those who love books. Until now. Now war has come, and Alia fears that the library — along with the thirty thousand books within it — will be destroyed forever.
In a war-stricken country where civilians — especially women — have little power,this true story about a librarian’s struggle to save her community’s priceless collection of books reminds us all how, throughout the world, the love of literature and the respect for knowledge know no boundaries.