Get Herald RSSHarvard University Press, Yale University Press and MIT Press shipped a collective donation of over 5,000 books to libraries in Iraq on Sept. 22. The donation was coordinated by the Sabre Foundation, an organization that facilitates charitable projects to libraries abroad. A grant from the United States Embassy in Baghdad funded the transportation of the books from the presses' shared distribution facility in Cumberland.
The books were sent to the Iraq National Library and will also be distributed to the libraries of Baghdad University, Mustansiriyah University and Baghdad Technical University, said Rebecca Schrader, assistant director of MIT Press.
The three universities first established contact with the Sabre Foundation in 1997, when they and 18 other university presses worked with the foundation to ship books to Bosnia to restore the National Library in Sarajevo.
"Since that time a number of us have stayed in touch with Sabre and helped where we could," said Bill Lindsay, assistant press director at Harvard University Press. "There's a tremendous need for books in the world and no publisher has the wherewithal to actually to solve it."
In a wave of looting following the U.S. invasion in 2003, many of the volumes held by the Iraq National Library were stolen or destroyed.
"Occasionally, when something like this particular disaster happens, it's possible to rally people together to make a meaningful contribution," Lindsay said.
Lindsay chose to approach Yale University Press and MIT Press about donating books to Iraq because the three presses share a single distribution facility, TriLiteral.
"We knew of Sabre's history and (Lindsay) brought to our attention the fact that they were getting involved with the library system in Iraq and that there was a need for contributions," said John Rollins, deputy director for finance and operations at Yale University Press. "It was something we're happy to do because obviously there is a need and we're in a position where we can do it," he said.
Each press sent a list of 2,500 books they were willing to donate to librarians in Iraq. The librarians then made selections based on what books they wanted.
"In Sarajevo, presses sent books that they thought (the National Library) might need and a lot of them weren't appropriate for that culture," Schrader said. "It was good that we did it the other way around this time."
The presses did not donate any books that were not specifically requested by a librarian in Iraq. Ultimately, Lindsay said, the libraries were "very modest in their requests." The presses were willing to donate up to 7,500 books collectively but only ended up sending about 5,700 books.
Lindsay said the librarians were particularly interested in the Harvard University Press's humanities books. They chose a noticeable amount of titles having to do with the Middle East, Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean from Yale University Press, Rollins said. Publications in economics and computer science were popular choices from MIT Press, Schrader said.
Since the university presses are not-for-profit organizations, they will have to "absorb" the cost of the donations, Rollins said. Nevertheless, there are plans to ask other university presses to get involved through the American Association of University Presses, Schrader added.
"We hope we don't have any more situations that require us to rebuild a country's library infrastructure, but certainly if there is a need, I'm sure (university presses) would sort of be the first in line with something like this," Schrader said.
It is important for university presses and universities to be charitable in improving education worldwide when they are able, Lindsay said.
"Universities themselves are charities, if you will, so obviously they have to serve their own purposes," he said. "But I think that in general there's an obligation that most academics would agree to that it's part of our responsibility to help not only the people here, but everywhere else."
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