The head of Iraq's National Archives and Library says it's a struggle to stay open while faced with the country's violence and threats against staff.

The archive in Baghdad has already lost 60 per cent of its materials from the looting in 2003 that followed the U.S. invasion of Iraq. A quarter of its rare book collection, dating back to the Ottoman Empire, was also lost.

'We lost five of our staff [and] we lost three drivers, who were assassinated.'—Saad Eskander

The library and its staff face relentless threats.

"There is a lot of violence in our area. Every day there is a bomb explosion or car bomb," archives director Saad Eskander told CBC Radio.

"Our building was rocketed several times, we lost five of our staff [and] we lost three drivers who were assassinated … this doesn't encourage people to come to our building. "

Not only that, Eskander said, the Iraqi army temporarily commandeered the building last month to use as a base.

These days the institution often remains open for just one reader a day.

The British Library has been publishing a blog by Eskander, whose final entry was at the end of July. In it, Eskander describes death threats his staff have had to endure and his struggle to fight for funding from bureaucrats.

In his July 23 posting, the director describes a dangerous scene in which his car attempts to navigate a temporary road after a firefight between the National Guard and insurgents.

The director's driver starts to argue with the National Guard: "While I was trying to calm the situation, the National Guards began to open fire at random and then physically assaulted two of my staff," wrote Eskander.

A common cultural history

Eskander said most people in Baghdad are too consumed with the complications and dangers of life in the city to worry about cultural institutions.

But he insists he will stay open, especially in an era of sectarianism that appears to be dividing Iraqis. He said it's more important than ever for them to have access to documents reflecting a shared history.

"Secular cultural institutions are the only places where you can find common symbols, you cannot find in the mosque," points out Eskander.

"The mosque is either Sunni or Shia, so you have traditional institutions which play a great part in the polarization of our society."

Eskander believes the preservation of common historical memory is one of Iraq's best hopes for remaining united in the future.