- A TikToker who said her books had burned in a house fire received hundreds of thousands of views.
- Commenters offered to donate money or their own books to help rebuild her library.
Viewers are offering to send a TikToker books from their personal collections to rebuild her library after she said her bookshelves had been destroyed in a house fire.
On July 30, TikToker Rodina Abdelkader posted a video that appeared to show her perspective of a room that had been devastated by a fire, as her hand reached out to a shelf of burned books, the spines of which crumbled to ash as she picked them up.
@microwavedbrains #grief #books #bookshelf #favoritebooks ♬ What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"] - Billie Eilish
A lengthy on-screen caption alongside the video said she couldn't think about her bookshelves for more than a few minutes, and regretted "not trying harder to salvage my books" which she wrote were from her childhood or gifted to her from professors with special notes inside, and "meant so much to me," but when she touched them they were already "falling apart."
In an earlier video posted on May 26, Abdelkader shared a series of images that showed a charred room, and a screenshot of a note which said she had "lost everything" in a house fire.
Abdelkader's recent video of her bookshelf received over 700,000 views, and a follow-up where she wrote the books were basically unsalvageable was viewed an additional 55,000 times.
The two videos received over 400 comments between them as many expressed their condolences for the purported damage, and wrote that although she had lost the physical items she would still remember the words within the books and the impact they'd had. Others pointed out she could eventually rebuild a new library, and the important thing was that she was safe.
Comments poured in from further viewers who offered to send free books from their own collections to help kick-start a new library, or asked if there was a way they could send money to help the TikToker with the cost of buying more.
"I've been collecting rare/old/special books 20+years and I know it won't be the same but I'd send you one to start a new chapter in your library," one commenter wrote.
In response, Abdelkader wrote that she would "love that so much" but asked if she could get back to the commenter as she was currently looking for a new place to move. This prompted even more viewers to write that they would also help build her new library when she was ready.
In a TikTok story that is no longer available to view but was seen by Insider, Abdelkader wrote, "I am just so moved by everyone's offer to share their well-loved books with me," and that she was "definitely interested" and intended to write a handwritten letter back for every book she received.
Abdelkader's TikTok bio also linked to a GoFundMe page titled "Help Us Rebuild Our Lives After Tragic Fire" where she wrote the house fire swept through her home on May 25, and her belongings had been "reduced to ashes." The page included images of what appeared to be the aftermath of a fire. To date, over 88 people have donated and raised over $4,700.
Abdelkader has over 2,500 followers on TikTok where she usually posts videos about books, and vlogs. She did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.