Facing ISIS Threat, Iraq Digitizes National Library

As ISIS extremists set out to destroy Iraq’s history and culture, including irreplaceable books and manuscripts kept in the militant-held city of Mosul, a major preservation and digitization project is underway in the capital to safeguard a millennium worth of history

In this Tuesday, July 28, 2015 photo, a member of the library restoration staff works on a damaged document at the Baghdad National Library in Iraq. AP Photo/Karim Kadim

BAGHDAD—The dimly-lit, dust-caked stacks of the Baghdad National Library hide a treasure of the ages: crinkled, yellowing papers holding the true stories of sultans and kings; imperialists and socialists; occupation and liberation; war and peace.

These are the original chronicles of Iraq’s rich and tumultuous history — and now librarians and academics in Baghdad are working feverishly to preserve what’s left after thousands of documents were lost or damaged at the height of the U.S.-led invasion.

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