Syria's secret library : the true story of how a besieged Syrian town found hope

Resource Information

The work Syria's secret library : the true story of how a besieged Syrian town found hope represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in City of Westminster Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Syria's secret library : the true story of how a besieged Syrian town found hope

Title remainder

the true story of how a besieged Syrian town found hope

Statement of responsibility

Mike Thomson

Creator

• Thomson, Mike

Subject

• History
• Libraries -- Social aspects -- Syria | Dārayyā
• Libraries -- Social aspects -- Syria | Dārayyā (Damascus)
• Syria -- History -- Civil War, 2011- -- Social aspects

Language

eng

Summary

Down in the basement of a bombed building in a heavily shelled area of Darayya there is a secret library. Around it, shattered buildings that were once homes and offices lie in treacherous ruins. No signs mark the presence of the library. Locals fear that Syrian government planes will bomb it if they find where it is. In a war zone, books are dangerous. While the streets above echo with rifle fire and shelling, below is a haven of peace and tranquillity. More than 14,000 books are stacked neatly on home-made shelves, arranged according to author and subject. They are checked in and out meticulously. Those within read quietly, drinking tea on comfortable sofas. A small oasis of normality in a country at war with itself. The secret library was the brainchild of a group of former university students whose education was interrupted when war broke out and was then ended altogether by the siege that followed

Cataloging source

StDuBDS

Dewey number

• 956.9'1'04231
• 956.9'1'04231
• 956.9104231

Illustrations

• illustrations
• plates

Index

no index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography