The Great Library of Alexandria: All the Knowledge of the World

Mary-Jane Deeb joined the Library of Congress in 1998, and became Chief of its African and Middle Eastern Division in 2005. Among her many activities there she led a Library of Congress mission to Baghdad in November 2003 to assist with the reconstruction of the National Library of Iraq; and in 2004 she was part of the Librarian of Congress team that visited Iran. Before joining the Library of Congress she was the Editor of The Middle East Journal, and Director of the Omani Program at The American University in Washington D.C. She has also taught at Georgetown University and at George Washington University. She received her Ph.D. in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University. Deeb is the author of Libya's Foreign Policy in North Africa, and co-author of Libya Since the Revolution: Aspects of Social and Political Development. She has also written over 150 articles, book chapters, and book reviews. She is a frequent media commentator and has appeared on the Lehrer News Hour, CNN, ABC World News, CBS Evening News, and been quoted by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Los Angeles Times. She also writes mystery books, including Cocktails and Murder on the Potomac (2000), Murder on the Riviera (2004), and Death of a Harlequin (2012).