A group of people in Syria who love books are worried that the war’s bombs and fires will destroy the books in their ruined homes. They wrap them in blankets just as they would victims of the war ranging around them. They bring them into the basement of a building and set up a library. This new underground book collection surrounded by sandbags functions, as one user puts it, as an ”oasis of normality in this sea of destruction.” A 14 year-old boy named Amjad appoints himself as chief librarian and writes down the names of people who borrow books and returns to his seat to continue reading. He tells his friends, ”You don’t have TV now anyway, so why not come here and educate yourself? It’s fun.”
Write about Amjad and the people who come visit the library. Write about how they overcome their fears, the books they read, what they learn, what their lives are all about. Write about their courage and their hunger to learn from books. Imagine yourself being a member of this wonderful community.
This is a true story: You can read more about Amjad and his community in a new book, ”Syria’s Secret Library: Reading and Redemption in a Town Under Siege,” by Mike Thomson at: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=syria%27s+secret+library+reading+and+redemption+in+a+town+under+siege&i=stripbooks&crid=QNXP36K6VG3N&sprefix=syria%27s+sec%2Caps%2C130&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_11
Write your own inspiring story about what this community did to save their books.