Alia Muhammad Baker

Baker had worked at the Basra Central Library for fourteen years prior to the United States-led invasion of Iraq.Jardine and Naqvi, "Learning not to Speak in Tongues" (2008), p. 640. As a child she was told the story of the burning of Baghdad's Nizamiyya library and was horrified.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27329.asp|title=Alia Muhammad Baker – Chief Librarian of Al Basrah (Iraq) Central Library, Cultural Heroine – Middle Eastern Culture|website=www.bellaonline.com|language=en-US|access-date=21 August 2018}}

As war with the United States and United Kingdom loomed, government officials denied her requests that the books be moved to safety. When government offices moved into the library and an anti-aircraft gun was placed on the roof, she started to smuggle books out of the library.

With a Shi'ite population relatively unsupportive of the Hussein regime, Basra was one of the first targets in the 2003 invasion of Iraq beginning in November. Coalition forces met with more resistance than expected. Most of the invading American troops moved northwards, leaving Basra under a multi-week siege led by the British.Keith B. Richburg, "[http://old.post-gazette.com/World/20030330basraworld5p5.asp Basra standoff raises concern about Baghdad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626223537/http://old.post-gazette.com/World/20030330basraworld5p5.asp |date=26 June 2019 }}", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 30 March 2003.Richard Sanders, "[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/9933587/The-myth-of-shock-and-awe-why-the-Iraqi-invasion-was-a-disaster.html The myth of 'shock and awe': why the Iraqi invasion was a disaster]", The Daily Telegraph (UK), 19 March 2013. The city was soon suffering from a "humanitarian crisis" in which residents lacked both water and electricity.Karen MacPherson, "[http://old.post-gazette.com/World/20030328helpbasraworld4p4.asp Residents in Basra could die of thirst without relief supplies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301074511/http://old.post-gazette.com/World/20030328helpbasraworld4p4.asp |date=1 March 2019 }}", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 28 March 2003.Shaoni Bhattacharya, "[https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3545-catastrophe-looms-as-basra-remains-without-water.html Catastrophe looms as Basra remains without water]", New Scientist, 25 March 2003.

The invading forces (including the Royal Australian Air Force) used bombing and psychological warfare during the siege.James Dao, "[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/30/1048962645873.html British seek revolution in Basra]", The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 March 2003. Eventually, a large column of Iraqi tanks was destroyed by RAF bombs, and 300 prisoners were taken in a battle outside the city.Tim Butcher, "[https://archive.today/20130620202710/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/1426191/Battle-for-strneeets-of-Basra.html Battle for the streets of Basra]", The Guardian, 31 March 2003."[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/basra_03-27-03.html British attack column of Iraqi tanks near Basra] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528174122/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/basra_03-27-03.html |date=28 May 2012 }}", PBS, 27 March 2003.Tom Newton Dunn, "[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/mar/31/Iraqandthemedia.news War Watch: Iraqi tank column breaks out of Basra]", The Guardian, 31 March 2003; pooled report quoting Major Mick Green. British troops occupied the city on 6 April.Rosalind Russell, "[http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/british-tanks-shoot-their-way-into-basra-1.104421 British tanks shoot their way into Basra]", IOL News, 6 April 2003.

After the government employees vacated the building and the library furnishings were looted, Baker convinced Anis Muhammad, the owner of the restaurant Hamdan, to help her save the library's books.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/world/after-the-war-the-librarian-books-spirited-to-safety-before-iraq-library-fire.html|title=AFTER THE WAR: THE LIBRARIAN; Books Spirited to Safety Before Iraq Library Fire|last=Dewan|first=Shaila K.|work=The New York Times |date=27 July 2003 |access-date=21 August 2018|language=en}} Baker enlisted the help of locals to smuggle the remaining books over the library's seven foot wall and into the dining room of the restaurant next door. Before the library was destroyed, Baker had rescued 70% of the library's collection: 30,000 books, including English and Arabic books and a Spanish-language Quran.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/burningbooksleve00rebe |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/burningbooksleve00rebe/page/195 195] |title=Burning Books And Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence And Cultural Destruction |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |author=Rebecca Knuth |year=2006 |location=Westport, CT|isbn=9780275990077 }}

Baker and her husband rented a truck and distributed the books among library employees, friends, and their own home after things settled down in Basra. The library was rebuilt in 2004, and Baker was reinstated as chief librarian.{{cite news|title=Alia Muhammad Baker – Chief Librarian of Al Basrah (Iraq) Central Library, Cultural Heroine|newspaper=Bella Online|url=http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27329.asp|accessdate=8 March 2013}}

The story of how Baker rescued the library books has inspired several children's books. Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq, a graphic novel by Mark Alan Stamaty, was published by Knopf in 2004.{{cite web |title=Alia's Mission Saving the Books of Iraq |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mark-alan-stamaty/alias-mission/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=8 April 2025 |date=19 May 2010}} Jeanette Winter's The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq was published by Harcourt in 2005.{{cite news |title=Heroism of Iraqi Librarian Inspires Story for Children |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-02-10-voa63-67379907/274704.html |access-date=8 April 2025 |work=VOA |date=29 October 2009}} Harcourt donated a portion of the book's proceeds to an American Library Association-administered fund for rebuilding the Basra Central Library's collection.Jardine and Naqvi, "Learning not to Speak in Tongues" (2008), p. 644. Both Stamaty and Winter's books were inspired by a July 2003 New York Times report by Shaila K. Dewan.{{cite news |last1=Lipson |first1=Eden Ross |title=Iraqi Librarian Becomes Cultural Hero in 2 Children's Books |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/17/books/iraqi-librarian-becomes-cultural-hero-in-2-childrens-books.html |access-date=8 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=17 March 2005}}

In 2013, S. Sivadas published a book about Baker in Malayalam entitled പുസ്തക മാലാഖയുടെ കഥ (Pusthaka maalaakhayute katha).{{cite web |title=Pusthaka Malakhayude Katha |url=https://www.indulekha.com/pusthaka-malakhayude-katha-children-novel-s-sivadas |website=indulekha.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901184314/https://www.indulekha.com/pusthaka-malakhayude-katha-children-novel-s-sivadas |archive-date=1 September 2021}}

Baker died from COVID-19 in Basra on 13 August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq.{{cite web |title=وفاة أمينة المكتبة المركزية في البصرة عالية محمد باقر: أنقذت آلاف الكتب عام 2003 |url=https://www.iqiraq.news/society/25691--2003.html |website=IQ News |access-date=14 August 2021 |language=ar |date=13 August 2021}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal |title=Learning not to Speak in Tongues: Thoughts on the Librarian of Basra |journal=Canadian Journal of Education |last1=Jardine |first1=David |last2=Naqvi |first2=Rahat |date=2008 |volume=31 |number=3 |pages=639–666 |url=http://www.csse-scee.ca/CJE/Articles/FullText/CJE31-3/CJE31-3-JardineNaqvi.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327234746/http://www.csse-scee.ca/CJE/Articles/FullText/CJE31-3/CJE31-3-JardineNaqvi.pdf |archivedate=27 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}

• [https://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR3F630#a=1 Photograph] of the reconstructed library
• [http://www.myspace.com/video/tank-commander/going-into-basra-2003-iraq-war/8545808 Video] taken from invading tank

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Category:1952 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq

Category:Iraqi librarians

Category:Iraqi women

Category:People from Basra Province