How Timbuktu’s Manuscripts Were Saved From Jihadists

This is an amazing story that any library lover will relish. You have to wonder how many Americans would risk their lives to save manuscripts. Meanwhile, this story is just crying out to be made into a movie, don't you think?

From the Washington Post, in a section they rightly called, "An Indiana Jones moment:"

It was the first stage of that mission that brought (Hassine Traore, the janitor) and his donkey caravan to the old-city streets of Timbuktu on that August night. His grandfather had helped him load the donkeys, but he stayed behind as Traore and three other men set out with the manuscripts.

The rain, in the end, helped them. The jihadists were not at their checkpoints, preferring to stay indoors.

The caravan arrived at a safe house. Traore gave the cargo to a trader working for (Abdel Kader Haidara, a prominent preservationist). Over the next two weeks, the donkey caravans would make the trip six more times until all the manuscripts were out of the center, Traore recalled.

The documents were placed in metal trunks hidden under cargo on several trucks. Within days, the manuscripts reached Bamako. Traore and his donkey caravan to the old-city streets of Timbuktu on that August night. His grandfather had helped him load the donkeys, but he stayed behind as Traore and three other men set out with the manuscripts.

It's a thrilling story and also one that may affirm your faith in humanity and its respect for knowledge. (hat tip Dorothy Kethler, our former Library Director)