Alia's Mission

In the book, “Alia’s Mission”, Mark Stamaty introduces Alia Baker, a woman who loves books. As the librarian in the Central Library of Basra, Iraq, Alicia loves her job. Books have taught Alia a lot of important things. As the Iraq war rages near the library, ALia becomes worried for her books. Alia wants to save the books from any damage. She talks to the government official, but her request was denied. “But all those books could be destroyed! All the records of out culture, our history...” (pg.10) As Alia explains to the officer, she worries for her precious books. Through the chaos near the library, Alia tries to think of a plan for her endangered books. Books mean a lot to Alia and the community, and Alia is not going to allow the them to be destroyed. With brilliant plans, Alia was able to save many books from the library. At first, Alia tries to “steal” books form the library and store them at her house. After days of hard work, Alia was able to preserve thousands of books. But it wasn’t enough; at this rate, most of the books would be ruined. “The war is moving too fast! I don’t have enough time!”(pg.15) As British troops near the city, Alia is running out of time and ideas. With looters and no one guarding the library, Alia is desperate. With the help of kind neighbors, Alia and the community was able to rescue many books. Later, her nightmare was confirmed as the library finally caught aflame. “A horrible sight,” Alia described. (pg.24) After the library burned down, ALia tries to recover from the sight of the burned books. After the devastating fire, Alia becomes sick. Fortunately, with the help of kind visitors, Alia recovers from her stroke. It was the talk with her good friend in which she realized her achievement. Alia and her friends saved more than 30,000 books. “That is a lot of books,” Alia admitted. (pg.28) The books saved were very important because they contained many precious culture and history accounts of Iraq’s past. Alia also realizes