Principal Snyder (of first season Buffy fame) once said "I love the smell of a desparate librarian", as that show has turned out it just goes to show to what lengths a librarian will go to in providing information to suit a situation - though I do believe that Giles has a certain degree of help from some nice script writers *droll look*.
But Alia Baker of Basra is a librarian of a different stripe. A real librarian. One who has put her stamp in my book of "Great Librarians" because she attempted to save as much of her library as she could.
I am in awe and admiration of the sheer determination to save as much of her city's culture and history as she could, I really hope that the libraries of Iraq can rebuild soon, and I hope that she is remembered in some suitably bookish way ...