LINKS THAT INSPIRED US

New York Times, February 2002
Afghanistan since the collapse of the Taliban has made many an ordinary event seem extraordinary, and few more so than the task that had Dr. Aziz Ahmad Rahmand, a professor of contemporary Afghan history, bursting with pride, joy and not a little gloating as he hurried about Kabul University on Wednesday.

NPR, from Morning Edition Thursday, January 17, 2002
Afghanistan’s library in Kabul was destroyed during the years of conflict. NPR’s Anne Garrels reports the condition of the library is a clear illustration of the depth of Afghanistan’s needs.

Books for Freedom receives Shelley A. Marshall Award for The Enrichment of the Human Spirit. Find out more about

RESOURCES: TYPES OF BOOKS

LANGUAGES

• • Farsi (the Afghan term for the language is ?Dari,? the English is ?Persian?)
    
  • Pashto
    
  • Arabic
  • English
    
  • French
    
  • German

a) Native


b) Foreign

BOOK GENRES

• Agriculture
  (e.g., epidemics, draughts, hydrology, animal husbandry, planting/harvesting, agronomy, soil and crop science, entomology, atmospheric science, horticulture, plant pathology)
• Architecture
• Business
  (e.g., management, banking, finance/microfinance, economics, marketing)
• Engineering
  (e.g., civil, electrical, mechanical, industrial, petroleum, material science)
• Legal
  (e.g., criminal law, constitutional law, property, contracts, procedure)
• Medical
  (e.g., nursing, nutrition, psychology, epidemiology, public health, pharmacology)
• 0 to 4 years old (primarily picture books)
  
• 5 to 9 (picture books with some words)
  
• 10 to 16 (books primarily, or only, with words)
• Afghani
  
• American
  
• Arabic
  
• East Asian
  
• European (including Russia)
  
• Persian and Central Asia
• Buddhist
  
• Christian
  
• Hindu
  
• Jewish
  
• Muslim
  
• Other
• biology
  
• chemistry
  
• geography and maps
  
• geology, earth science, and environmental studies
  
• foreign language instruction (English/French/German)
  
• history
  
• math
  
• philosophy
  
• physics
  
• political science
  
• science, general
  
• women?s studies
  
• dictionaries
  
• encyclopedias
• Business & Finance
  
  Barron?s, Business Week
  Forbes
  Fortune
  Harvard Business Review
• News & Current Affairs
  
  Atlantic Monthly
  The Economist
  Foreign Policy
  Herald Tribune
  New York Times
  New Yorker (magazine)
  Newsweek
  U.S. News & World Report
  Wall Street Journal
  Washington Post
• Science (* = children?s publication)
  
  Discover
  *Kid?s Discover
  National Geographic
  *National Geographic WORLD
  Natural History
  Popular Mechanics
  Popular Science
  *Ranger Rick

  
  

• metalwork
  
• painting
  
• pottery
  
• sewing, knitting, seamstressing, weaving
  
• woodwork
• business start-ups
  
• infant care
  
• mines (recognizing mines, demining)
  
• nutrition
  
• planting
  
• pregnancy and post-partem bleeding

a) Professional References & Undergraduate/Graduate School Texts


b) Children?s Books


c) Literature & Poetry


d) Religious Studies


e) Educational Textbooks for Introductory Undergraduate Courses and High School Classes and Younger


f) Magazine & Newspapers

g) Crafts Guides


h) How-to Manuals (for non-professional readers)




MISCELLANEOUS

a) Professional Journals
Professional journals, in any of the above areas, are also acceptable.

b) Critical Concerns.
The critical concerns in Afghanistan are the following:

• Agriculture
  
• Education
  
• Finance & Microfinance
  
• Health & Safety
  
• Infrastructure Rebuilding

c) Cultural Sensitivity
For all books, we must be culturally sensitive about not imposing Western culture; in particular, we should be sensitive about imposing more racy, contemporary Western culture (and this should probably be judged with a conservative eye).

d) General Advice
BFF is collecting books for a population which mostly speaks only native languages and confronts daily challenges of survival, but it is also in the process of educating itself, developing sustainable skills and resources, and rebuilding basic infrastructure. Additionally, there are also some educated, English-speaking, better-off Afghanis who require more specialized sources for overall governance and rebuilding of a civil society.