International Medical Corps staff met Tamara in spring 2006 through the community mobilization program in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Tamara’s library in Novy Sharoy had long-needed repairs and lacked many of the books readers had requested. After the war, only 4,000 books in the original collection of 28,000 were left. Most were worn and outdated.
Rarely will one find a librarian like Tamara. She is so committed to her job that even under barrages of artillery fire she tried to protect her books.
“We stayed in our basement during the bombing,” she remembers of the period of conflict in Chechnya from 1994 to 2002. “But when the bombing stopped I would check on the library. The windows were broken.” At one point, a bomb hit Tamara’s shelter, breaking her arm.
The library is located in a sto ne room across the hall from the village administrator’s office and the cultural center where International Medical Corps sponsors shows for the villagers. The building escaped most damage, but many books were stolen. Tamara suspects residents who had to remain in shelters for long periods may have taken the books to help them pass the time.
Organized by International Medical Corps and led by Tamara, the community mobilization group rebuilt the library and bought a new computer for the villagers. International Medical Corps also successfully renovated the nearby Davidenko village library. International Medical Corps is the only international non-governmental organization rehabilitating libraries in the North Caucasus, according to UNICEF and the local NGO consortium.
Novy Sharoy’s library now houses classic Russian fiction, Chechen narratives, a new medical encyclopedia and agricultural and technical reference books. Villagers also have access to the new International Medical Corps-donated computer, one of the only computers in Novy Sharoy