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The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts

By Joshua Hammer

In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts that had fallen into obscurity. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the incredible story of how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist and historian from the legendary city of Timbuktu, later became one of the world's greatest and most brazen smugglers.

In 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants from northwest Africa seized control of most of Mali, including Timbuktu. They imposed Sharia law, chopped off the hands of accused thieves, stoned to death unmarried couples, and threatened to destroy the great manuscripts. As the militants tightened their control over Timbuktu, Haidara organized a dangerous operation to sneak all 350,000 volumes out of the city to the safety of southern Mali.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What do you think of the title of the book? Did you find it off-putting or intriguing?

2.  Was this book an easy or difficult read? Why?

3.  Can you compare the preservation of music in this story with the preservation of manuscripts?

4.  What are your thoughts about how the book covered Al Qaeda and the war versus how much time it spent on saving the manuscripts? Were the passages on war necessary to understand the main 

     theme of the story?

5.  What did you know about the history of Timbuktu prior to reading this book?

6.  What was your favorite part of the book? What part did you find least interesting?

7.  What is your overall takeaway from this book? What will you remember about it a year from now?

8.  Has reading this book changed your perspective on Timbuktu, librarians, Al Qaeda, or Islamic history? Has it changed your perspective on something else?