The Librarian of Basra "The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq," by Jeanette Winter is the true story of Alia Muhammad Baker.

When no one in the government would help her: She became worried about the books where she was head librarian. She came up with a daring plan.

Before the War. She started removing the most valuable books a few at a time. After a time she had removed a great many books, but still she worried about what would happen to the books she couldn’t move.

She was right to worry.

Clean up is still going on

Many badly damaged items are being stored on digital media.