The National Library and Archive is the oldest heritage institution in Iraq. It contained 45,000 rare printed books of which 6,000 were in the Ottoman script as well as a number of special collections. British colonial administration constructed original Iraq National Library and achieve in Baghdad, Iraq in 1920.It started as one of many capital and social projects, which was intended to create a sense of national identity among the diverse groups of people in the state. Millions of new books were created through a free press system, this in turn caused literacy and education rates to rise sighificantly "Much of the new nationalism was directed squarely against the British occupation. In 1930 Britain agreed to guarantee complete independence for Iraq within two years. In 1932 Iraq did indeed receive its independence and was admitted into the League of Nations in 1976, during the the INLA was moved and rebuilt in a different location, which is its most recent location. As Saddam Hussein came into power the library weaken along with other significant institutions.
Reflection:
I had a lot of trouble finding information about National Library and Archive. I am starting to think that maybe some of this info is not available and it has been censured. I have tried every database I know of, I have tried Google but nearly every website and article just talked about destruction of the INLA. But luckily I have been able to find at least some info about the history of the INLA. I wanted to focus on history of the library first and I will talk about the destruction and rebuilding of the INLA in my next post.
Reference:
Books
Polastorn, Lucien X 2007, ‘Books on fire: The tumultuous story of the world’s great libraries’ Thames & Hudson, London
Websites
Al-Naqshbandi, Zain, 2004,’ Report on the Central Awqaf Library ‘viewed 10.05.2010,
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/melairaq.html
31/5/10 13:47
The question of censorship is an interesting one and perhaps worth exploring further.