This man is trying to rebuild a library burned down by Islamic State

Among the books that survived the flames were a few hundred rare ones

MOSUL, IRAQ:

Islamic State took control of Mosul in 2014 and destroyed the city's university and set ablaze a library with hundreds of thousands of books and manuscripts.

A renowned university, offering degrees in medicine and engineering, and doctoral research in a number of disciplines, including history and political science, was The University of Mosul which faced the wrath of IS's occupation.

The professors of the university were forced to rewrite textbooks under the new education system imposed by IS.

However, as the recapturing of Mosul by Iraqi forces began, a man took up the rigorous task of restoring the library. Mosul Eye, an anonymous blogger has been chronicling life of Mosul under IS for the last three years. He had to run away from the city to continue writing on his projects.

PHOTO: MOSULEYE

The restorer chose to stay anonymous and in an interview with BuzzFeed said, "I can tell you I'm not 40 yet. Whenever I was in the university, I would spend most of my time at the library," he said. "When I didn't like my professors' lectures, I often went to the library to do research and study books on my own."

https://twitter.com/MosulEye/status/831888654796804105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bustle.com%2Fp%2Fa-blogger-is-rescuing-the-mosul-libraries-that-isis-destroyed-one-book-at-a-time-68331

 

The central library at the university contained innumerable books in Arabic and English, historical maps and periodicals from the Ottoman era and ancient Islamic manuscripts. Although most of the books had been destroyed, Mosul Eye said they were able to preserve around 2,000 volumes, many of which were from private collections.

https://twitter.com/MosulEye/status/866599534809538560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fanupkaphle%2Fpeople-from-all-over-the-world-are-sending-books-to-help

 

"People have been sending us books from Australia, from Europe, the United States — all on different subjects and in different languages," he told BuzzFeed News.

Mosul Eye said they have collected about 10,000 books so far and the group aims to collect 200,000 books for the reopening of the library. Many of them have been shipped to and collected in the city of Irbil, where a team of volunteers are labeling and sorting them.

https://twitter.com/MosulEye/status/880127027818504200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fanupkaphle%2Fpeople-from-all-over-the-world-are-sending-books-to-help

 

"We need to reconnect Mosul again with the rest of the world," he said. "We will need the world to take the same amount of interest it has after ISIS took over the city. Don't abandon us now," shared the historian.