Here's How A Secret Library In A Syrian Town Under Siege Rekindled Dreams For Many
According to the book, the library also hosted weekly debates, classes in Mathematics and English as well as a book club.
What place would books have in a city that knows the language of bullets and bombs? It would not be extraordinary to imagine that in a surrounding where explosions rule the roost, few people would have access to books and perhaps fewer who would want to save books even at the cost of their lives.
But in the year 2013, an assembly of dedicated readers from Daraya, which is located about five miles southwest of Damascus, saved several hundred books by collecting them from ruined homes. They often wrapped these books in blankets in an almost same manner as as victims of the war raging around them would be taken care of.
Amjad, the self-appointed chief librarian of Daraya¡¯s secret library.Credit: Local Council of Daraya City
This set in motion an exercise that culminated into the making of a secret library, located in the basement of a building whose upper floors had been bombarded and remained nothing more than a cloud of dust.
The story of this extraordinary library is captured in a new book ¡°Syria¡¯s Secret Library¡± by Mike Thomson. The author recounts this unlikely story and presents it as an ¡°oasis of normality in this sea of destruction.¡±
The library has a self-appointed chief librarian by the name of Amjad and he would routinely note down the names of people who would borrow books from the library. Amjad would also tell his friends and everybody he came across that they should get on to reading since there was no TV any longer in their region. Besides, it would educate them a great deal, he would tell the visitors.
BOOK COVER
According to the book, the library also hosted weekly debates, classes in Mathematics and English as well as a book club.
Stories of bloodshed, violence, bombarding and murders rule the roost in Syria but the story of this secret library, ably narrated by Mr Thomson, rekindles our faith in humanity and will live on as a shining example of the difference that books and libraries bring into the lives of all those who engage with them.
Indiatimes reached ground zero in 2016 and found out the level of destruction.
