Books, Life, and Everything in Between: Amra Mutapčić-Čengić Speaks at IUS
On Tuesday, November 10, 2026, the IUS English Language and Literature (ELIT) program and the integrated English Language and Literature, Teaching (ELT) program, welcomed Ms. Amra Mutapčić-Čengić, manager of American Corner Sarajevo, for a guest lecture titled “Books, Life, and Everything in Between.” Invited by Asst. Prof. Dr. Nadira Puškar Mustafić as part of her MA course in Comparative Literature (ELIT505), the lecture took place in the Translation & Writing Studio.
Mutapčić-Čengić recalled that she and Puškar Mustafić met through books. Their connection grew out of Bookworm, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first English-language book club devoted to American literature, which Puškar Mustafić founded in 2017 and led first at American Corner Tuzla and later at American Corner Sarajevo.
Drawing on her studies in comparative literature and library science at the University of Sarajevo and her work in public libraries, Mutapčić-Čengić reflected on how her relationship with books had changed over time. She remembered a primary school librarian who inspected returned books page by page for new marks. Years later, after moving to a new neighborhood during the war, she found refuge in a public library, where reading helped her cope with loneliness and uncertainty.
Those once-forbidden marks took on a different meaning when she discovered her late grandfather’s handwritten notes in an old copy of Don Quixote. Although she had been too young to remember him, some of the passages that caught her attention were the very ones he had marked. Reading the novel, she said, felt like having a conversation with him.
The lecture also explored what readers need from libraries today. Mutapčić-Čengić described how American Corner Sarajevo combines its English-language collection with free educational programs, including 3D printing workshops for students from different disciplines and practical sessions led by an experienced tour guide. Students shared examples from libraries they had visited and discussed how study spaces and digital borrowing could support their daily lives.
The conversation concluded with ideas for taking a more active role in library communities. Students asked how to request new titles, while one proposed a campus book exchange inspired by an initiative in Georgia, where readers could leave books for others to discover and pass along. Mutapčić-Čengić encouraged students to join public libraries, suggest additions to their collections and explore opportunities to volunteer.
