Books Building Bridges Between U.S. and Iraq

Four independent bookstores are part of a broad-based coalition of Western Massachusetts educators, libraries, arts and peace organizations, and others that seeks to foster "community-building" between the peoples of the U.S. and Iraq by shedding light on the connections between literacy and access to education and the formation of healthy societies. The group, Books Building Bridges, is hosting its inaugural event on November 29 at the Massachusetts' Northampton Center for the Arts. "Learning in a Time of War" will examine war's impact on literacy, libraries, and education.

According to Erika Arthur, events coordinator of Food for Thought Books, a 30-year-old collectively owned and run bookstore in Amherst, the group was inspired by Jeanette Winter's book, The Librarian of Basra (Harcourt), which chronicles the work of Basra librarian Alia Muhammed Baker who, with her community, saved 30,000 volumes from destruction during the current war with Iraq.

The Broadside Bookshop in Northampton, Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, and Amherst Books in Amherst are part of the coalition, which includes, among others, the Five College Libraries Council, The Literacy Project, the American Friends Service Committee, and Baghdad University.

Through its website, www.booksbuildingbridges.org/, the organization provides information on educational events, such as the Learning in a Time of War symposium, and a curriculum for literacy programs and schools. It also suggests other ways individuals and communities can participate and soon expects to provide information about a Pen Pal program established through Baghdad University.

The Books Building Bridges curriculum project, "Critical Literacy/Tolerance of Difference/Civil Discourse," includes units on Media Literacy, Regional Understanding, the U.S. Economy, Policy and War, and the Impact of War. --Nomi Schwartz