The Africana Collection of the MSU Library is one of the largest in the United States, having been built up since 1960 to support broad faculty involvement in research and development projects on the continent. In recent decades, the MSU program about Africa has been consistently rated among the top one or two in the country in both the number of faculty involved and the number of doctoral dissertations produced. The Library's commitment to this world area is reflected in the employment of 2 full-time professional Africana librarians, both of them holding doctorates in African Studies, who built one of the top five collections in the country and who provide reference assistance to a wide range of faculty and students at MSU and elsewhere and who are very involved in national cooperative projects.

The Library collection of roughly 200,000 books, pamphlets, maps and microform units covers all areas and disciplines. There is an emphasis on the socio-economic development and history of sub-Saharan Africa, with special emphases (reflecting faculty interests) on Ethiopia/Eritrea, Zimbabwe, South Africa, the Sahel region of West Africa, and Nigeria (especially the Eastern Region). Library materials from all African countries (less so for North Africa) are collected at a high level, including materials in all African and other languages and across all historical periods. The Library also has a very strong collection of archival materials on microfilm and there are substantial special and audio-visual collections. Library collectino development policy on Africa is outlined in the Collection Development Policy.

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Contact:

Africana, MSU Libraries,
100 Library, East Lansing 48824
phone: 432-6123 ext 239 or ext. 237 Fax: (517) 432-3532

Librarians
Joseph Lauer Africana Librarian 432-6123 ext237 lauer@msu.edu
Peter Limb Bibliographer 432-6123 ext239 limb@msu.edu

Page editor: Peter Limb limb@msu.edu Last updated: 26 August 2005