U.S. Embassy Facilitates Book Donation for the Iraq National Museum Library
Staff from the Iraq National Museum Library and U.S. Embassy Baghdad sort through hundreds of donated books (State Dept.)
On August 10th the Cultural Affairs Office was on hand at the Iraq National Museum Library to facilitate the delivery of almost one thousand books related to cultural heritage. The collection belonged to American archaeologist, Dr. Jes Canby, who excavated throughout the Middle East, and worked on artifacts from the ancient city of Ur, which is located in the Dhi Qar Province in southern Iraq.
When she passed away in 2007, she donated her collection to the British Institute for the Study of Iraq (the Gertrude Bell Memorial) at the British Academy, who subsequently donated the collection to the Iraq National Museum Library. The museum library has minimal literature related to excavations and artifacts in Iraq, and the donation of the books will be of great assistance to university research students, and State Board of Antiquities and Heritage staff. The books will provide Iraqi scholars with useful information about artifacts and archaeological sites not readily accessible to them, and help them re-connect with international subject matter experts.
The U.S. Embassy provided funding to ship the books to Iraq as part of our continuing support for cultural heritage preservation, cultural exchanges, and other areas of civil cooperation.