Syria’s Secret Library
—Based on a True Story—
Darayya is a town/8 km south-west of Damascus,/the capital of Syria.
In 2012,/the conflict between the government and the citizens,/who were demanding democracy,/turned into a civil war. As all the roads leading to the town/were blocked,/the citizens had no access to things/necessary for their daily lives. Schools were closed,/and students had to give up their studies.
Many people had already left Darayya/and escaped to neighboring towns. However,/some citizens decided to stay in Darayya/and continue their resistance/against the government. Ahmad Mujahid,/a 23-year-old student/studying engineering at Damascus University,/was one of them.
One day in 2013,/some friends asked Ahmad/for help. They said/they were trying to dig books/out of the fallen houses. Ahmad was surprised and asked,/“Books?” He thought/there was no point/in saving books/when people’s lives were not saved. For him,/books were nothing but a symbol/of lies and propaganda.
Unwillingly,/he followed his friends/to a destroyed building/and picked up a book/from the floor. The book was written in English. Ahmad did not speak the language,/yet he spotted/some words he knew.
When he turned the pages,/he felt his body shake. He forgot about the war/and found himself/in a world of peace. The feeling of opening the door to knowledge/shook his heart.
About 40 people volunteered/for this mission. They waited for the sound of military aircraft/to disappear/and then collected books.
After a month,/about 15,000 books had been gathered. The volunteers carried these books/to the basement of one building/located in a badly damaged neighborhood. They wiped the books clean,/repaired torn pages,/and put them on shelves. They also carefully wrote down/the name of the owner of each book/on its front page.
Ahmad said,/“We are not thieves. These books belong to the people/of the town. We want to make sure/these books will return to the owners/once the war is over.”
A nameless library was established underground. It was the only library/in Darayya.
The library was open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m./every day/except on Fridays. It might sound crazy/to run a library/when people were facing death. However,/an average of 25 people a day/visited the library.
People desperately needed books/to gain knowledge/in wartime. Doctors needed books/to treat their patients,/and teachers needed books/to provide education for children/in the destroyed town.
Knowledge was not the only thing/that books gave to people in Darayya. Children read books/which their fathers brought back from the library. Books sometimes helped them/ignore the hunger they felt. Soldiers also read books. They read/in order to hold themselves together/and not to let the war destroy them. People read books to learn,/to escape,/and to maintain humanity. Thanks to books,/people did not give up the hope/that they would be able to live peacefully again someday. For those who did not even like reading before the war,/reading became a shield against the bombings.
Since its opening,/the library had become more than just a library. It was a meeting place,/tea room,/education center,/and even a place of entertainment/for the people in Darayya.
They came to the library/not only to read,/but also to get together/and interact with each other. They often had debates/about democracy and revolution. Some classes,/such as English and political science,/were also held at the library. People were trying/to pass on the knowledge they had/to others. Sometimes they watched movies/and even danced there.
A library user said,/“In a sense,/the library gave me back my life. It has helped me meet others/more mature than me. I can discuss issues with them/and learn things/from them. I would say/that just as the body needs food,/the soul needs books.”
In August, 2016,/people in Darayya/yielded to the government order/and left their own town. The siege of Darayya,/which lasted for three years and nine months,/finally ended.
Although the name of the town “Darayya”/means “many houses”/in old Syrian,/there were no houses/left in the town/after the frequent air raids. Their secret library was destroyed/after the forced eviction,/and the books were sold/for little money/on the side of the streets. Those were the books/Ahmad and his friends wrote the owners’ names on. Ahmad said,/“A town could be destroyed,/but the minds of people could not.”
Ahmad settled in a new town/and started a traveling library. He loads hundreds of books/in a van/painted bright colors/and drives around the town. His project enables children/who have been deprived of learning opportunities/to gain access to books. He says,/“Our aim is to raise their intellectual capabilities,/to broaden their understanding,/and to motivate them/to search for knowledge and culture.”
—Based on a True Story—
Darayya is a town/8 km south-west of Damascus,/the capital of Syria.
In 2012,/the conflict between the government and the citizens,/who were demanding democracy,/turned into a civil war. As all the roads leading to the town/were blocked,/the citizens had no access to things/necessary for their daily lives. Schools were closed,/and students had to give up their studies.
Many people had already left Darayya/and escaped to neighboring towns. However,/some citizens decided to stay in Darayya/and continue their resistance/against the government. Ahmad Mujahid,/a 23-year-old student/studying engineering at Damascus University,/was one of them.
One day in 2013,/some friends asked Ahmad/for help. They said/they were trying to dig books/out of the fallen houses. Ahmad was surprised and asked,/“Books?” He thought/there was no point/in saving books/when people’s lives were not saved. For him,/books were nothing but a symbol/of lies and propaganda.
Unwillingly,/he followed his friends/to a destroyed building/and picked up a book/from the floor. The book was written in English. Ahmad did not speak the language,/yet he spotted/some words he knew.
When he turned the pages,/he felt his body shake. He forgot about the war/and found himself/in a world of peace. The feeling of opening the door to knowledge/shook his heart.
About 40 people volunteered/for this mission. They waited for the sound of military aircraft/to disappear/and then collected books.
After a month,/about 15,000 books had been gathered. The volunteers carried these books/to the basement of one building/located in a badly damaged neighborhood. They wiped the books clean,/repaired torn pages,/and put them on shelves. They also carefully wrote down/the name of the owner of each book/on its front page.
Ahmad said,/“We are not thieves. These books belong to the people/of the town. We want to make sure/these books will return to the owners/once the war is over.”
A nameless library was established underground. It was the only library/in Darayya.
The library was open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m./every day/except on Fridays. It might sound crazy/to run a library/when people were facing death. However,/an average of 25 people a day/visited the library.
People desperately needed books/to gain knowledge/in wartime. Doctors needed books/to treat their patients,/and teachers needed books/to provide education for children/in the destroyed town.
Knowledge was not the only thing/that books gave to people in Darayya. Children read books/which their fathers brought back from the library. Books sometimes helped them/ignore the hunger they felt. Soldiers also read books. They read/in order to hold themselves together/and not to let the war destroy them. People read books to learn,/to escape,/and to maintain humanity. Thanks to books,/people did not give up the hope/that they would be able to live peacefully again someday. For those who did not even like reading before the war,/reading became a shield against the bombings.
Since its opening,/the library had become more than just a library. It was a meeting place,/tea room,/education center,/and even a place of entertainment/for the people in Darayya.
They came to the library/not only to read,/but also to get together/and interact with each other. They often had debates/about democracy and revolution. Some classes,/such as English and political science,/were also held at the library. People were trying/to pass on the knowledge they had/to others. Sometimes they watched movies/and even danced there.
A library user said,/“In a sense,/the library gave me back my life. It has helped me meet others/more mature than me. I can discuss issues with them/and learn things/from them. I would say/that just as the body needs food,/the soul needs books.”
In August, 2016,/people in Darayya/yielded to the government order/and left their own town. The siege of Darayya,/which lasted for three years and nine months,/finally ended.
Although the name of the town “Darayya”/means “many houses”/in old Syrian,/there were no houses/left in the town/after the frequent air raids. Their secret library was destroyed/after the forced eviction,/and the books were sold/for little money/on the side of the streets. Those were the books/Ahmad and his friends wrote the owners’ names on. Ahmad said,/“A town could be destroyed,/but the minds of people could not.”
Ahmad settled in a new town/and started a traveling library. He loads hundreds of books/in a van/painted bright colors/and drives around the town. His project enables children/who have been deprived of learning opportunities/to gain access to books. He says,/“Our aim is to raise their intellectual capabilities,/to broaden their understanding,/and to motivate them/to search for knowledge and culture.”