Books for Baghdad

Via Professor Bainbridge comes word of a project begun by Jacksonville State University professor Safaa Al-Hamdani. (Poliblog has covered the story, as have the major news outlets.) A native of Baghdad and graduate of Baghdad University, he reports that, not surprisingly, university libraries suffered terribly under Saddam and are in dire need of books and journals. Prof. Bainbridge also reports that high shipping costs to Iraq mean that Prof. Al-Hamdani is likely to welcome checks to help defray that expense as much as he is boxes of books themselves. Better yet, ship those books you'll never read and include a check!

One caution: A former colleague went to Eastern Europe not long after the Wall fell to "update" beleagured academics who were thirsty for Western scholarship. Unfortunately, his bibliography consisted mostly of the worst pseudo-scholarship America and France had to offer: Derrida, Lacan, Fish, de Man -- the whole lot. So if you ship your books, don't use this as an opportunity to rid yourself of the tripe you were forced to read in grad school. Remember: Iraq needs a liberally educated leadership, not an out-of-touch gang of elitist nihilists. After all they've been through, they need the core works of both the Western and Islamic traditions.

Books and/or checks should be made payable to "Books for Baghdad" and sent to:

Dr. Safaa Al-Hamdani
c/o Department of Biology
Jacksonville State University
700 Pelham Road North
Jacksonville, AL 36265