Taking advantage of this module’s CYOA approach, I wanted to explore the topic of international libraries and one article @michael shared about refugees and libraries in Europe stood out to me. The civil war in Syria created an influx of refugees in Europe and throughout the continent, public libraries played a huge role in assisting refugees in acclimating to their new environments (Pyatetsky, 2015).

The article made me wonder how it is on the other side. How do public libraries operate in great times of crisis? I’m not trying to discount the uphill battles libraries have to deal with here stateside, but I can only assume that it is a very different experience in areas of conflict. Civilians in Darayya, a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, banded together to create an underground library during a period when the city was besieged during the civil war; its chief librarian was a fourteen-year-old boy (Pleitgen & Otto, 2016).

In other parts of the world, libraries have literally been caught in the crossfire during wartime. The library at the Omdurman Ahlia University, hailed as being one of the prominent archives of Sudanese history and culture, was deliberately set ablaze as the country is in the throes of a devastating civil war (Ghosh, 2023). Gaza City’s main public library was decimated by Israeli forces in the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war (Sheehan, 2023). Russian forces targeted not only libraries, but museums and churches, highlighting that war is not just about the acquisition of land or power, but also the destruction of culture and heritage (Kuijt, et al., 2024). These were incredibly difficult stories to sit through, but they further prove the importance of libraries. Even as they become targets during times of conflict, they remain providing comfort to people all around the world. 

References:

Ghosh, K. (2023, June 22). Sudan’s rare books library destroyed in fire as civil war ravages the country. Brittle Paper. https://brittlepaper.com/2023/06/sudans-rare-books-library-destroyed-in-fire-as-civil-war-ravages-the-country/ 

Kuijt, I., Shydlovski, P., Donaruma, W. (2024, February 23). The Russia-Ukraine War has caused a staggering amount of cultural destruction – both seen and unseen. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-russia-ukraine-war-has-caused-a-staggering-amount-of-cultural-destruction-both-seen-and-unseen-221082 

Pleitgen, F., & Otto, C.  (2016, October 11). Syria: How besieged city’s underground library gave hope amid war. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/07/middleeast/syria-undergound-library/index.html 

Pyatetsky, J. (2015,  November 24). Refugees supported by public libraries in Europe. Public Libraries Online. https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2015/11/refugees-supported-by-public-libraries-in-europe/ 

Sheehan, D. (2023, November 27). Gaza’s main public library has been destroyed by Israeli bombing. Lit Hub. https://lithub.com/gazas-main-public-library-has-been-destroyed/