From November 2006 to July 2007 Saad Eskander wrote a diary which was published in various places, including the British Library’s website. Although the diary finishes with him feeling he has exploited the situation his staff are in, and ’emotionally blackmailed’ the readers, I do not think that the latter is true in any way.

The diary makes difficult reading. Although there are many descriptions of the difficulties, the one that stayed with me after reading the diary was the following short passage:

“A stray bullet smashed a small window at the Acquisition Department. The Head of the Department had to clean her desk and chair from broken glasses before she could begin her work.”

The way the stray bullet is treated here – not an issue apart from the mess caused, reflects for me the bravery of staff working under these conditions.

Saad Eskander was recently awarded the Scone Foundation’s Archivist of the Year

I haven’t had a chance to listen to this interview from Radio 4 yet… BBC – Radio 4 – Taking a Stand – 8 January 2008 – this is available for the next week

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