Central Library

The Central Library of the University of Mosul had a special unforgettable smell. It was kind of a magical mixture of smells that came from thousands of books, especially the old ones, and perfumes excessively worn by some dapper students to overpower the roses planted in the garden adjacent to the library … and I would spend long hours in it.My mom was not worried if I was late to return from the University.She knew where I had been absent for more than half a day.And when I asked her … how she knew.She said: “from the smell of your shirt.” Even when she was washing my shirt, she almost knew how many books I read on that day.All this because of the Central Library, from which I have nothing but a very special smell that I keep in my memory fearing that I would lose it, especially, after my mom’s death and after sweeping away my shirt by the wind of war that has taken it from the rope on the roof of our old eastern house.Prof. Dr. Ahmad Jarallah Yassin#Library_in_a_Story#Central_Library