Boston University, African Studies Library
The African Studies Libraries comprises an entire floor in the main library. The collection, briefly described, is substantial
British Library, Resources for African Studies
In all areas–books, prints manuscripts, maps, music–the library’s collections have great historical depth. This site constitutes a guide to the most important collections with African materials
Center for Research Libraries
From the CRL homepage scroll down to “Projects” and finds links to “CAMP” and “Foreign Newspaper Holdings.” CAMP stands for the Cooperative Africana Microform Project, and offers one of the largest collections of African Newspapers on microform. These are available through inter-library loan
Central Library of African Studies
“The Central Library of African Studies (Biblioteca Central de Estudos Africanos) “is a joint effort of four portuguese research centers on african studies: the Centro de Estudos Africanos do ISCTE, the Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade do Porto, the Centro de Estudos sobre África e do Desenvolvimento do ISEG/UTL, and the Centro de Estudos Africanos da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa. The library is located within the Library of ISCTE, and contains over 15 thousand volumes.”
Cornell University, John Henrik Clarke Africana Library
Located in the Africana Studies and Research Center, where it supports research and teaching activities. Collection focuses on history and cultures of peoples of African ancestry in the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean
ELDIS
Electronic Development and Environment Information System hosted by British Library for Development Studies. Outstanding resources on Africa
Frankfurt University Library, Africa South of the Sahara
Located at the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg in Frankfurt, Germany, this special collection focuses on the languages, history, and culture of more than 40 African countries. Information is available in English, but the majority of the collection is in German. The University Library also hosts the library of the German Colonial Society and a Colonial Picture Archive. (Note-both sites are in German)
Indiana University at Bloomington, African Studies Collections
Indiana’s collection is particularly strong in African languages, literature, folklore, and linguistics, and includes substantial holdings in anthropology, history, and political science as well. Geographical emphases include West and West Central Africa, and Southern Africa
Leiden Centre for African Studies Library
Contains access to online public access to the Centre’s 55,000 book collection as well as the Leiden African Studies Database. This unique African studies data base contains titles of monographs, journal articles and chapters from edited works acquired since 1988. Most entries include professional in-depth abstracts. The Library is especially strong in the social sciences, and covers both North and Sub-Saharan Africa
Library of Congress, African Section
One of the best collections in the world, particulary strong in economics, history, linguistics, and literature
Northwestern University, Herskovits Library
The premier Africana collection in the country, and the largest separate African Studies library in the world. Worth a visit for any Africanist scholar
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library
Promotes study of the histories and cultures of Africa and of peoples of African descent throughout the world. Comprised of five divisions: Art and Artifacts; General Research and Reference; Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books; Moving Image and Recorded Sound; Photographs and Prints. Collections are particularly strong in the arts, humanities and social sciences
Stanford University, African Studies Collection
While there isn’t a general African Studies “library collection“ description for Stanford, this page points to library resources at Stanford and an internet resources list. Stanford offers an excellent collection of British documents on Africa. In addition, Stanford collects official African documents, a majority of which emanate from English-speaking Central and Southern Africa. Karen Fung has developed a wonderful web site, Africa South of Sahara: Selected Internet Resources, including an international list of Libraries and Archives specializing in Africana material. Curator, Green Library: Karen Fung
University of California at Berkeley, Africana Collection
Much of the collection is located in the Doe Library, with rich holdings in African serials and documents, as well as African studies material published in the Soviet Union since WW2. Geographic strengths include Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria (especially the Yoruba region), South Africa, and Zambia. Languages collected include Arabic, Swahili, Yoruba, and major European languages. Bibliographer: Jason M. Schultz
University of Pennsylvania, African Studies Collection
The Penn Library offers strong historical collections in anthropology, art, folklore, Eqyptology, and Islam. Recent collection emphases include African language literature, especially from Francophone areas. Bibliographer: Lauris Olson
Yale University, Library, African Collection
The African Collection at Sterling Memorial Library is, like many of Yale’s collections, large and very rich. Particular strengths include Southern Africa, and French-speaking west and central Africa
