Since the start of this week there are reports about the destruction of library buildings and book collections in Timbuktu. It sounds as if the written heritage of the town went up in flames. According to our information this is not the case at all. The custodians of the libraries worked quietly throughout the rebel occupation of Timbuktu to ensure the safety of their materials. A limited number of items have been damaged or stolen, the infrastructure neglected and furnishings in the Ahmad Baba Institute library looted but from all our local sources – all intimately connected with the public and private collections in the town – there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection. …
Ganzer Artikel zu finden bei: http://www.tombouctoumanuscripts.org/blog/entry/timbuktu_update/
via http://burnablebooks.com/what-has-been-lost-in-timbuktu/
Timbuktu’s art of saving its manuscripts
The images of scattered and torched storage boxes at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu raised fears that thousands of the city’s famous manuscripts had been destroyed towards the end of Islamist rule. …
Ganzer Artikel unter http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21294158
Bilderfolge: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21248951