Virginia Tech helps launch English language center at Iraqi university battered by Islamic State Published Thursday, May. 6, 2021, 12:02 am Join AFP's 100,000+ followers on Facebook Purchase a subscription to AFP Subscribe to AFP podcasts on iTunes and Spotify News, press releases, letters to the editor: [email protected] The library at the University of Mosul was once among the finest in Western Asia, housing more than a million books, maps, and rare historical materials. But in 2014, when Islamic State forces captured the Iraqi city, the grand library and about 80 percent of the sprawling, tree-lined campus were destroyed. Many faculty members were slaughtered or forced to flee.