Beneath where the bombs burst. Deeper than bullets or shrapnel can penetrate. Outside of the sniper’s range. This is where the hope for Syria’s future lies.
In Darayya, a suburb of the capital Damascus, the locals have rescued books from the crumbling skeletons of once proud buildings to create a secret library. It is hidden in a basement, safe from the daily skirmishes playing out between government and rebel forces four years into the country’s civil war.
“We saw that it was vital to create a new library so that we could continue our education,” founder and former civil engineering student Anas Ahmad told the BBC via Skype (journalists are unable to access the area). It has not been easy.
“In many cases we get books from bomb or shell-damaged homes. The majority of these places are near the front line, so collecting them is very dangerous.”
14,000 books have been secured and stored since the siege commenced, providing a source of education and entertainment for anyone from hospital workers, to teachers, and even soldiers on the front lines. Most of them are volunteers, offering assistance where none would otherwise be available.
To do so, they must avoid the ordinance and shrapnel that has laid waste to most of Darayya, but they have little choice; since a ceasefire broke down in May, there has been no getting in or out of town for anyone. That includes scores of children, who at present can’t enter the area where the library is located because of fears they will be targeted by snipers.
14 year old Amjad is the only exception. He lives next door to the library, and is safer underground than in his home, but visits mostly because of his fondness for reading. As a result, he has been declared ‘deputy librarian’.
When BBC’s Mike Thomson asked another library user, Abdulbaset Alahmar, why residents are more eager to hunt for books rather than food, he explains “In a sense, the library gave me back my life. It’s helped me to meet others more mature than me, people who I can discuss issues with and learn things from. I would say that just like the body needs food, the soul needs books”.
Unfortunately, the future of the library remains unclear. Each day, government forces creep closer to Darayya, overtaking farmland and outlying residences. A well placed barrel bomb or overthrowing of the city could bring Ahmad and his peer’s efforts to a destructive end. It’s with this in mind that rebel fighters like Omar Abu Anas are unwilling to lay down their arms.
“Books motivate us to keep on going. We read how in the past everyone turned their backs on a particular nation, yet they still made it. So we can be like that too. They help us plan for life once Assad is gone. We can only do that through the books we are reading. We want to be a free nation. And hopefully, by reading, we can achieve this.”
For more information about Syria’s secret library and the situation in Darayya, you can listen to the BBC’s Crossing Continents radio report here.