Sunday, October 07, 2012

As much as I love books and manuscripts (and collet them), I am more worried about the people of Timbuktu

"The safety of Timbuktu’s manuscripts is less assured. As the rebels descended on Timbuktu, Mali’s cultural authorities told the owners of private libraries in the city to hide their wares. But not all of them are safe. A big collection at the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research, which has 30,000 manuscripts, is under threat. Ansar Dine has occupied it."